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The Project Gutenberg Etext of Typee: A Romance of the South Sea

by Herman Melville

With Biographical and Critical Introduction by Arthur Stedman


September 1999  [Etext #1900]


The Project Gutenberg Etext of Typee: A Romance of the South Sea
by Herman Melville
With Biographical and Critical Introduction by Arthur Stedman

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Typee: A Romance of the South Seas

By Herman Melville




PREFACE

MORE than three years have elapsed since the occurrence of the
events recorded in this volume.  The interval, with the exception
of the last few months, has been chiefly spent by the author
tossing about on the wide ocean.  Sailors are the only class of
men who now-a-days see anything like stirring adventure; and many
things which to fire-side people appear strange and romantic, to
them seem as common-place as a jacket out at elbows. Yet,
notwithstanding the familiarity of sailors with all sorts of
curious adventure, the incidents recorded in the following pages
have often served, when 'spun as a yarn,' not only to relieve the
weariness of many a night-watch at sea, but to excite the warmest
sympathies of the author's shipmates.  He has been, therefore,
led to think that his story could scarcely fail to interest those
who are less familiar than the sailor with a life of adventure.

In his account of the singular and interesting people among whom
he was thrown, it will be observed that he chiefly treats of
their more obvious peculiarities; and, in describing their
customs, refrains in most cases from entering into explanations
concerning their origin and purposes.  As writers of travels
among barbarous communities are generally very diffuse on these
subjects, he deems it right to advert to what may be considered a
culpable omission.  No one can be more sensible than the author
of his deficiencies in this and many other respects; but when the
very peculiar circumstances in which he was placed are
understood, he feels assured that all these omissions will be
excused.

In very many published narratives no little degree of attention
is bestowed upon dates; but as the author lost all knowledge of
the days of the week, during the occurrence of the scenes herein
related, he hopes that the reader will charitably pass over his
shortcomings in this particular.

In the Polynesian words used in this volume,--except in those
cases where the spelling has been previously determined by
others,--that form of orthography has been employed, which might
be supposed most easily to convey their sound to a stranger.  In
several works descriptive of the islands in the Pacific, many of
the most beautiful combinations of vocal sounds have been
altogether lost to the ear of the reader by an over-attention to
the ordinary rules of spelling.

There are a few passages in the ensuing chapters which may be
thought to bear rather bard upon a reverend order of men, the
account of whose proceedings in different quarters of the globe--
transmitted to us through their own hands--very generally, and
often very deservedly, receives high commendation.  Such passages
will be found, however, to be based upon facts admitting of no
contradiction, and which have come immediately under the writer's
cognizance.  The conclusions deduced from these facts are
unavoidable, and in stating them the author has been influenced
by no feeling of animosity, either to the individuals themselves,
or to that glorious cause which has not always been served by the
proceedings of some of its advocates.

The great interest with which the important events lately
occurring at the Sandwich, Marquesas, and Society Islands, have
been regarded in America and England, and indeed throughout the
world, will, he trusts, justify a few otherwise unwarrantable
digressions.

There are some things related in the narrative which will be
sure to appear strange, or perhaps entirely incomprehensible, to
the reader; but they cannot appear more so to him than they did
to the author at the time.  He has stated such matters just as
they occurred, and leaves every one to form his own opinion
concerning them; trusting that his anxious desire to speak the
unvarnished truth will gain for him the confidence of his
readers. 1846.



INTRODUCTION TO THE EDITION OF 1892.

BY ARTHUR STEDMAN.

OF the trinity of American authors whose births made the year
1819 a notable one in our literary history,--Lowell, Whitman, and
Melville,--it is interesting to observe that the two latter were
both descended, on the fathers' and mothers' sides respectively,
from have families of British New England and Dutch New York
extraction.  Whitman and Van Velsor, Melville and Gansevoort,
were the several combinations which produced these men; and it is
easy to trace in the life and character of each author the
qualities derived from his joint ancestry.  Here, however, the
resemblance ceases, for Whitman's forebears, while worthy country
people of good descent, were not prominent in public or private
life. Melville, on the other hand, was of distinctly patrician
birth, his paternal and maternal grandfathers having been leading
characters in the Revolutionary War; their descendants still
maintaining a dignified social position.

Allan Melville, great-grandfather of Herman Melville, removed
from Scotland to America in 1748, and established himself as a
merchant in Boston.  His son, Major Thomas Melville, was a leader
in the famous 'Boston Tea Party' of 1773 and afterwards became an
officer in the Continental Army.  He is reported to have been a
Conservative in all matters except his opposition to unjust
taxation, and he wore the old-fashioned cocked hat and
knee-breeches until his death, in 1832, thus becoming the
original of Doctor Holmes's poem,'The Last Leaf'.  Major
Melville's son Allan, the father of Herman, was an importing
merchant,--first in Boston, and later in New York.  He was a man
of much culture, and was an extensive traveller for his time.  He
married Maria Gansevoort, daughter of General Peter Gansevoort,
best known as 'the hero of Fort Stanwix.'  This fort was situated
on the present site of Rome, N.Y.; and there Gansevoort, with a
small body of men, held in check reinforcements on their way to
join Burgoyne, until the disastrous ending of the latter's
campaign of 1777 was insured. The Gansevoorts, it should be said,
were at that time and subsequently residents of Albany, N.Y.

Herman Melville was born in New York on August 1,1819, and
received his early education in that city.  There he imbibed his
first love of adventure, listening, as be says in 'Redburn,'
while his father 'of winter evenings, by the well-remembered
sea-coal fire in old Greenwich Street, used to tell my brother
and me of the monstrous waves at sea, mountain high, of the masts
bending like twigs, and all about Havre and Liverpool.'  The
death of his father in reduced circumstances necessitated the
removal of his mother and the family of eight brothers and
sisters to the village of Lansingburg, on the Hudson River. 
There Herman remained until 1835, when he attended the Albany
Classical School for some months.  Dr. Charles E. West, the
well-known Brooklyn educator, was then in charge of the school,
and remembers the lad's deftness in English composition, and his
struggles with mathematics.

The following year was passed at Pittsfield, Mass., where he
engaged in work on his uncle's farm, long known as the 'Van
Schaack place.'  This uncle was Thomas Melville, president of the
Berkshire Agricultural Society, and a successful gentleman
farmer.

Herman's roving disposition, and a desire to support himself
independently of family assistance, soon led him to ship as cabin
boy in a New York vessel bound for Liverpool.  He made the
voyage, visited London, and returned in the same ship.  'Redburn:
His First Voyage,' published in 1849, is partly founded on the
experiences of this trip, which was undertaken with the full
consent of his relatives, and which seems to have satisfied his
nautical ambition for a time.  As told in the book, Melville met
with more than the usual hardships of a sailor-boy's first
venture.  It does not seem difficult in 'Redburn' to separate the
author's actual experiences from those invented by him, this
being the case in some of his other writings.

A good part of the succeeding three years, from 1837 to 1840, was
occupied with school-teaching.  While so engaged at Greenbush,
now East Albany, N.Y., he received the munificent salary of 'six
dollars a quarter and board.'  He taught for one term at
Pittsfield, Mass., 'boarding around' with the families of his
pupils, in true American fashion, and easily suppressing, on one
memorable occasion, the efforts of his larger scholars to
inaugurate a rebellion by physical force.

I fancy that it was the reading of Richard Henry Dana's 'Two
Years Before the Mast' which revived the spirit of adventure in
Melville's breast.  That book was published in 1840, and was at
once talked of everywhere.  Melville must have read it at the
time, mindful of his own experience as a sailor.  At any rate, he
once more signed a ship's articles, and on January 1, 1841,
sailed from New Bedford harbour in the whaler Acushnet, bound for
the Pacific Ocean and the sperm fishery.  He has left very little
direct information as to the events of this eighteen months'
cruise, although his whaling romance, 'Moby Dick; or, the Whale,'
probably gives many pictures of life on board the Acushnet.  In
the present volume he confines himself to a general account of
the captain's bad treatment of the crew, and of his
non-fulfilment of agreements.  Under these considerations,
Melville decided to abandon the vessel on reaching the Marquesas
Islands; and the narrative of 'Typee' begins at this point.
However, he always recognised the immense influence the voyage
had had upon his career, and in regard to its results has said in
'Moby Dick,'--

'If I shall ever deserve any real repute in that small but high
hushed world which I might not be unreasonably ambitious of; if
hereafter I shall do anything that on the whole a man might
rather have done than to have left undone .  .  .  .then here I
prospectively ascribe all the honour and the glory to whaling;
for a whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.'  

The record, then, of Melville's escape from the Dolly, otherwise
the Acushnet, the sojourn of his companion Toby and himself in
the Typee Valley on the island of Nukuheva, Toby's mysterious
disappearance, and Melville's own escape, is fully given in the
succeeding pages; and rash indeed would he be who would enter
into a descriptive contest with these inimitable pictures of
aboriginal life in the 'Happy Valley.'  So great an interest has
always centred in the character of Toby, whose actual existence
has been questioned, that I am glad to be able to declare him an
authentic personage, by name Richard T.  Greene.  He was enabled
to discover himself again to Mr. Melville through the publication
of the present volume, and their acquaintance was renewed,
lasting for quite a long period.  I have seen his portrait,--a
rare old daguerrotype,--and some of his letters to our author. 
One of his children was named for the latter, but Mr. Melville
lost trace of him in recent years.

With the author's rescue from what Dr. T. M. Coan has styled his
'anxious paradise,' 'Typee' ends, and its sequel, 'Omoo,' begins.
Here, again, it seems wisest to leave the remaining adventures in
the South Seas to the reader's own discovery, simply stating
that, after a sojourn at the Society Islands, Melville shipped
for Honolulu.  There he remained for four months, employed as a
clerk.  He joined the crew of the American frigate United States,
which reached Boston, stopping on the way at one of the Peruvian
ports, in October of 1844.  Once more was a narrative of his
experiences to be preserved in 'White Jacket; or, the World in a
Man-of-War.'  Thus, of Melville's four most important books,
three, 'Typee,' 'Omoo,' and 'White-Jacket,' are directly auto
biographical, and 'Moby Dick' is partially so; while the less
important 'Redburn' is between the two classes in this respect. 
Melville's other prose works, as will be shown, were, with some
exceptions, unsuccessful efforts at creative romance.

Whether our author entered on his whaling adventures in the South
Seas with a determination to make them available for literary
purposes, may never be certainly known.  There was no such
elaborate announcement or advance preparation as in some later
cases.  I am inclined to believe that the literary prospect was
an after-thought, and that this insured a freshness and
enthusiasm of style not otherwise to be attained.  Returning to
his mother's home at Lansingburg, Melville soon began the writing
of 'Typee,' which was completed by the autumn of 1845.  Shortly
after this his older brother, Gansevoort Melville, sailed for
England as secretary of legation to Ambassador McLane, and the
manuscript was intrusted to Gansevoort for submission to John
Murray.  Its immediate acceptance and publication followed in
1846.  'Typee' was dedicated to Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw of
Massachusetts, an old friendship between the author's family and
that of Justice Shaw having been renewed about this time.  Mr.
Melville became engaged to Miss Elizabeth Shaw, the only daughter
of the Chief Justice, and their marriage followed on August 4,
1847, in Boston.  

The wanderings of our nautical Othello were thus brought to a
conclusion.  Mr. and Mrs. Melville resided in New York City until
1850, when they purchased a farmhouse at Pittsfield, their farm
adjoining that formerly owned by Mr. Melville's uncle, which had
been inherited by the latter's son.  The new place was named
'Arrow Head,' from the numerous Indian antiquities found in the
neighbourhood.  The house was so situated as to command an
uninterrupted view of Greylock Mountain and the adjacent hills.
Here Melville remained for thirteen years, occupied with his
writing, and managing his farm.  An article in Putnam's Monthly
entitled 'I and My Chimney,' another called 'October Mountain,'
and the introduction to the 'Piazza Tales,' present faithful
pictures of Arrow Head and its surroundings.  In a letter to
Nathaniel Hawthorne, given in 'Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife,'
his daily life is set forth.  The letter is dated June 1, 1851.  

'Since you have been here I have been building some shanties of
houses (connected with the old one), and likewise some shanties
of chapters and essays.  I have been ploughing and sowing and
raising and printing and praying, and now begin to come out upon
a less bristling time, and to enjoy the calm prospect of things
from a fair piazza at the north of the old farmhouse here.  Not
entirely yet, though, am I without something to be urgent with.
The 'Whale' is only half through the press; for, wearied with the
long delays of the printers, and disgusted with the heat and dust
of the Babylonish brick-kiln of New York, I came back to the
country to feel the grass, and end the book reclining on it, if I
may.'  

Mr. Hawthorne, who was then living in the red cottage at Lenox,
had a week at Arrow Head with his daughter Una the previous
spring.  It is recorded that the friends 'spent most of the time
in the barn, bathing in the early spring sunshine, which streamed
through the open doors, and talking philosophy.'  According to
Mr. J.  E.  A.  Smith's volume on the Berkshire Hills, these
gentlemen, both reserved in nature, though near neighbours and
often in the same company, were inclined to be shy of each other,
partly, perhaps, through the knowledge that Melville had written
a very appreciative review of 'Mosses from an Old Manse' for the
New York Literary World, edited by their mutual friends, the
Duyckincks.  'But one day,' writes Mr. Smith, 'it chanced that
when they were out on a picnic excursion, the two were compelled
by a thundershower to take shelter in a narrow recess of the
rocks of Monument Mountain.  Two hours of this enforced
intercourse settled the matter.  They learned so much of each
other's character, . . . that the most intimate friendship for
the future was inevitable.'  A passage in Hawthorne's 'Wonder
Book' is noteworthy as describing the number of literary
neighbours in Berkshire:--

'For my part, I wish I had Pegasus here at this moment,' said the
student.  'I would mount him forthwith, and gallop about the
country within a circumference of a few miles, making literary
calls on my brother authors.  Dr. Dewey would be within ray
reach, at the foot of the Taconic.  In Stockbridge, yonder, is
Mr. James [G. P. R. James], conspicuous to all the world on his
mountain-pile of history and romance.  Longfellow, I believe, is
not yet at the Oxbow, else the winged horse would neigh at him.
But here in Lenox I should find our most truthful novelist [Miss
Sedgwick], who has made the scenery and life of Berkshire all her
own.  On the hither side of Pittsfield sits Herman Melville,
shaping out the gigantic conception of his 'White Whale,' while
the gigantic shadow of Greylock looms upon him from his study
window.  Another bound of my flying steed would bring me to the
door of Holmes, whom I mention last, because Pegasus would
certainly unseat me the next minute, and claim the poet as his
rider.'

While at Pittsfield, Mr. Melville was induced to enter the
lecture field.  From 1857 to 1860 he filled many engagements in
the lyceums, chiefly speaking of his adventures in the South
Seas.  He lectured in cities as widely apart as Montreal,
Chicago, Baltimore, and San Francisco, sailing to the last-named
place in 1860, by way of Cape Horn, on the Meteor, commanded, by
his younger brother, Captain Thomas Melville, afterward governor
of the 'Sailor's Snug Harbor' at Staten Island, N.Y.  Besides his
voyage to San Francisco, he had, in 1849 and 1856, visited
England, the Continent, and the Holy Land, partly to superintend
the publication of English editions of his works, and partly for
recreation.

A pronounced feature of Melville's character was his
unwillingness to speak of himself, his adventures, or his
writings in conversation.  He was, however, able to overcome this
reluctance on the lecture platform.  Our author's tendency to
philosophical discussion is strikingly set forth in a letter from
Dr. Titus Munson Coan to the latter's mother, written while a
student at Williams College over thirty years ago, and
fortunately preserved by her.  Dr. Coan enjoyed the friendship
and confidence of Mr. Melville during most of his residence in
New York.  The letter reads:--

'I have made my first literary pilgrimage, a call upon Herman
Melville,the renowned author of 'Typee,' etc.  He lives in a
spacious farmhouse about two miles from Pittsfield, a weary walk
through the dust.  But it as well repaid.  I introduced myself as
a Hawaiian-American, and soon found myself in full tide of talk,
or rather of monologue.  But he would not repeat the experiences
of which I had been reading with rapture in his books.  In vain I
sought to hear of Typee and those paradise islands, but he
preferred to pour forth his philosophy and his theories of life.
The shade of Aristotle arose like a cold mist between myself and
Fayaway.  We have quite enough of deep philosophy at Williams
College, and I confess I was disappointed in this trend of the
talk.  But what a talk it was!  Melville is transformed from a
Marquesan to a gypsy student, the gypsy element still remaining
strong within him.  And this contradiction gives him the air of
one who has suffered from opposition, both literary and social.
With his liberal views, he is apparently considered by the good
people of Pittsfield as little better than a cannibal or a
'beach-comber.'  His attitude seemed to me something like that of
Ishmael; but perhaps I judged hastily.  I managed to draw him out
very freely on everything but the Marquesas Islands, and when I
left him he was in full tide of discourse on all things sacred
and profane.  But he seems to put away the objective side of his
life, and to shut himself up in this cold north as a cloistered
thinker.'  

I have been told by Dr. Coan that his father, the Rev. Titus
Coan, of the Hawaiian Islands, personally visited the Marquesas
group, found the Typee Valley, and verified in all respects the
statements made in 'Typee.'  It is known that Mr. Melville from
early manhood indulged deeply in philosophical studies, and his
fondness for discussing such matters is pointed out by Hawthorne
also, in the 'English Note Books.'  This habit increased as he
advanced in years, if possible.

The chief event of the residence in Pittsfield was the completion
and publication of 'Moby Dick; or, the Whale,' in 1851.  How many
young men have been drawn to sea by this book is a question of
interest.  Meeting with Mr. Charles Henry Webb ('John Paul') the
day after Mr. Melville's death, I asked him if he were not
familiar with that author's writings.  He replied that 'Moby
Dick' was responsible for his three years of life before the mast
when a lad, and added that while 'gamming' on board another
vessel he had once fallen in with a member of the boat's crew
which rescued Melville from his friendly imprisonment among the
Typees.

While at Pittsfield, besides his own family, Mr. Melville's
mother and sisters resided with him.  As his four children grew
up he found it necessary to obtain for them better facilities for
study than the village school afforded; and so, several years
after, the household was broken up, and he removed with his wife
and children to the New York house that was afterwards his home.
This house belonged to his brother Allan, and was exchanged for
the estate at Pittsfield.  In December, 1866, he was appointed by
Mr. H. A. Smyth, a former travelling companion in Europe, a
district officer in the New York Custom House.  He held the
position until 1886, preferring it to in-door clerical work, and
then resigned, the duties becoming too arduous for his failing
strength.

In addition to his philosophical studies, Mr. Melville was much
interested in all matters relating to the fine arts, and devoted
most of his leisure hours to the two subjects.  A notable
collection of etchings and engravings from the old masters was
gradually made by him, those from Claude's paintings being a
specialty.  After he retired from the Custom House, his tall,
stalwart figure could be seen almost daily tramping through the
Fort George district or Central Park, his roving inclination
leading him to obtain as much out-door life as possible.  His
evenings were spent at home with his books, his pictures, and his
family, and usually with them alone; for, in spite of the
melodramatic declarations of various English gentlemen,
Melville's seclusion in his latter years, and in fact throughout
his life, was a matter of personal choice.  More and more, as he
grew older, he avoided every action on his part, and on the part
of his family, that might tend to keep his name and writings
before the public.  A few friends felt at liberty to visit the
recluse, and were kindly welcomed, but he himself sought no one.
His favorite companions were his grandchildren, with whom he
delighted to pass his time, and his devoted wife, who was a
constant assistant and adviser in his literary work, chiefly done
at this period for his own amusement.  To her he addressed his
last little poem, the touching 'Return of the Sire de Nesle.'
Various efforts were made by the New York literary colony to draw
him from his retirement, but without success.  It has been
suggested that he might have accepted a magazine editorship, but
this is doubtful, as he could not bear business details or
routine work of any sort.  His brother Allan was a New York
lawyer, and until his death, in 1872, managed Melville's affairs
with ability, particularly the literary accounts.

During these later years he took great pleasure in a friendly
correspondence with Mr. W.  Clark Russell.  Mr. Russell had taken
many occasions to mention Melville's sea-tales, his interest in
them, and his indebtedness to them.  The latter felt impelled to
write Mr. Russell in regard to one of his newly published novels,
and received in answer the following letter:                      
                                                 July 21, 1886.  

MY DEAR Mr. MELVILLE,  Your letter has given me a very great and
singular pleasure.  Your delightful books carry the imagination
into a maritime period so remote that, often as you have been in
my mind, I could never satisfy myself that you were still amongst
the living.  I am glad, indeed, to learn from Mr. Toft that you
are still hale and hearty, and I do most heartily wish you many
years yet of health and vigour.

Your books I have in the American edition.  I have 'Typee,
'Omoo,' 'Redburn,' and that noble piece 'Moby Dick.'  These are
all I have been able to obtain.  There have been many editions of
your works in this country, particularly the lovely South Sea
sketches; but the editions are not equal to those of the American
publishers. Your reputation here is very great.  It is hard to
meet a man whose opinion as a reader is worth leaving who does
not speak of your works in such terms as he might hesitate to
employ, with all his patriotism, toward many renowned English
writers.

Dana is, indeed, great.  There is nothing in literature more
remarkable than the impression produced by Dana's portraiture of
the homely inner life of a little brig's forecastle.

I beg that you will accept my thanks for the kindly spirit in
which you have read my books.  I wish it were in my power to
cross the Atlantic, for you assuredly would be the first whom it
would be my happiness to visit.

The condition of my right hand obliges me to dictate this to my
son; but painful as it is to me to hold a pen, I cannot suffer
this letter to reach the hands of a man of so admirable genitis
as Herman Melville without begging him to believe me to be, with
my own hand, his most respectful and hearty admirer,
W. Clark Russell.  

It should be noted here that Melville's increased reputation in
England at the period of this letter was chiefly owing to a
series of articles on his work written by Mr. Russell.  I am
sorry to say that few English papers made more than a passing
reference to Melville's death.  The American press discussed his
life and work in numerous and lengthy reviews.  At the same time,
there always has been a steady sale of his books in England, and
some of them never have been out of print in that country since
the publication of 'Typee.'  One result of this friendship
between the two authors was the dedication of new volumes to each
other in highly complimentary terms--Mr. Melville's 'John Marr
and Other Sailors,' of which twenty-five copies only were
printed, on the one hand, and Mr. Russell's 'An Ocean Tragedy,'
on the other, of which many thousand have been printed, not to
mention unnumbered pirated copies.

Beside Hawthorne, Mr. Richard Henry Stoddard, of American
writers, specially knew and appreciated Herman Melville.  Mr.
Stoddard was connected with the New York dock department at the
time of Mr. Melville's appointment to a custom-house position,
and they at once became acquainted.  For a good many years,
during the period in which our author remained in seclusion, much
that appeared in print in America concerning Melville came from
the pen of Mr. Stoddard.  Nevertheless, the sailor author's
presence in New York was well known to the literary guild.  He
was invited to join in all new movements, but as often felt
obliged to excuse himself from doing so.  The present writer
lived for some time within a short distance of his house, but
found no opportunity to meet him until it became necessary to
obtain his portrait for an anthology in course of publication. 
The interview was brief, and the interviewer could not help
feeling although treated with pleasant courtesy, that more
important matters were in hand than the perpetuation of a
romancer's countenance to future generations; but a friendly
family acquaintance grew up from the incident, and will remain an
abiding memory.

Mr. Melville died at his home in New York City early on the
morning of September 28, 1891.  His serious illness had lasted a
number of months, so that the end came as a release.  True to his
ruling passion, philosophy had claimed him to the last, a set of
Schopenhauer's works receiving his attention when able to study;
but this was varied with readings in the 'Mermaid Series' of old
plays, in which he took much pleasure.  His library, in addition
to numerous works on philosophy and the fine arts, was composed
of standard books of all classes, including, of course, a
proportion of nautical literature.  Especially interesting are
fifteen or twenty first editions of Hawthorne's books inscribed
to Mr. and Mrs. Melville by the author and his wife.  

The immediate acceptance of 'Typee' by John Murray was followed
by an arrangement with the London agent of an American publisher,
for its simultaneous publication in the United States.  I
understand that Murray did not then publish fiction.  At any
rate, the book was accepted by him on the assurance of Gansevoort
Melville that it contained nothing not actually experienced by
his brother.  Murray brought it out early in 1846, in his
Colonial and Home Library, as 'A Narrative of a Four Months'
Residence among the Natives of a Valley of the Marquesas Islands;
or, a Peep at Polynesian Life,' or, more briefly, 'Melville's
Marquesas Islands.'  It was issued in America with the author's
own title, 'Typee,' and in the outward shape of a work of
fiction.  Mr. Melville found himself famous at once.  Many
discussions were carried on as to the genuineness of the author's
name and the reality of the events portrayed, but English and
American critics alike recognised the book's importance as a
contribution to literature.

Melville, in a letter to Hawthorne, speaks of himself as having
no development at all until his twenty-fifth year, the time of
his return from the Pacific; but surely the process of
development must have been well advanced to permit of so virile
and artistic a creation as 'Typee.'  While the narrative does not
always run smoothly, yet the style for the most part is graceful
and alluring, so that we pass from one scene of Pacific
enchantment to another quite oblivious of the vast amount of
descriptive detail which is being poured out upon us.  It is the
varying fortune of the hero which engrosses our attention.  We
follow his adventures with breathless interest, or luxuriate with
him in the leafy bowers of the 'Happy Valley,' surrounded by
joyous children of nature.  When all is ended, we then for the
first time realise that we know these people and their ways as if
we too had dwelt among them.

I do not believe that 'Typee' will ever lose its position as a
classic of American Literature.  The pioneer in South Sea
romance- -for the mechanical descriptions of earlier voyagers are
not worthy of comparison--this book has as yet met with no
superior, even in French literature; nor has it met with a rival
in any other language than the French.  The character of
'Fayaway,' and, no less, William S. Mayo's 'Kaloolah,' the
enchanting dreams of many a youthful heart, will retain their
charm; and this in spite of endless variations by modern
explorers in the same domain.  A faint type of both characters
may be found in the Surinam Yarico of Captain John Gabriel
Stedman, whose 'Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition' appeared
in 1796.

'Typee,' as written, contained passages reflecting with
considerable severity on the methods pursued by missionaries in
the South Seas.  The manuscript was printed in a complete form in
England, and created much discussion on this account, Melville
being accused of bitterness; but he asserted his lack of
prejudice.  The passages referred to were omitted in the first
and all subsequent American editions.  They have been restored in
the present issue, which is complete save for a few paragraphs
excluded by written direction of the author.  I have, with the
consent of his family, changed the long and cumbersome sub-title
of the book, calling it a 'Real-Romance of the South Seas,' as
best expressing its nature.

The success of his first volume encouraged Melville to proceed in
his work, and 'Omoo,' the sequel to 'Typee,' appeared in England
and America in l847.  Here we leave, for the most part, the
dreamy pictures of island life, and find ourselves sharing the
extremely realistic discomforts of a Sydney whaler in the early
forties. The rebellious crew's experiences in the Society Islands
are quite as realistic as events on board ship and very
entertaining, while the whimsical character, Dr. Long Ghost, next
to Captain Ahab in 'Moby Dick,' is Melville's most striking
delineation.  The errors of the South Sea missions are pointed
out with even more force than in 'Typee,' and it is a fact that
both these books have ever since been of the greatest value to
outgoing missionaries on account of the exact information
contained in them with respect to the islanders.

Melville's power in describing and investing with romance scenes
and incidents witnessed and participated in by himself, and his
frequent failure of success as an inventor of characters and
situations, were early pointed out by his critics.  More recently
Mr. Henry S.  Salt has drawn the same distinction very carefully
in an excellent article contributed to the Scottish Art Review.
In a prefatory note to 'Mardi' (1849), Melville declares that, as
his former books have been received as romance instead of
reality, he will now try his hand at pure fiction.  'Mardi' may
be called a splendid failure.  It must have been soon after the
completion of 'Omoo' that Melville began to study the writings of
Sir Thomas Browne.  Heretofore our author's style was rough in
places, but marvellously simple and direct.  'Mardi' is burdened
with an over-rich diction, which Melville never entirely outgrew.
The scene of this romance, which opens well, is laid in the South
Seas, but everything soon becomes overdrawn and fantastical, and
the thread of the story loses itself in a mystical allegory.  

'Redburn,' already mentioned, succeeded 'Mardi' in the same year,
and was a partial return to the author's earlier style.  In
'White-Jacket; or, the World in a Man-of-War' (1850), Melville
almost regained it.  This book has no equal as a picture of life
aboard a sailing man-of-war, the lights and shadows of naval
existence being well contrasted.

With 'Moby Dick; or, the Whale' (1851), Melville reached the
topmost notch of his fame.  The book represents, to a certain
extent, the conflict between the author's earlier and later
methods of composition, but the gigantic conception of the 'White
Whale,' as Hawthorne expressed it, permeates the whole work, and
lifts it bodily into the highest domain of romance.  'Moby Dick'
contains an immense amount of information concerning the habits
of the whale and the methods of its capture, but this is
characteristically introduced in a way not to interfere with the
narrative.  The chapter entitled 'Stubb Kills a Whale' ranks with
the choicest examples of descriptive literature.

'Moby Dick' appeared, and Melville enjoyed to the full the
enhanced reputation it brought him.  He did not, however, take
warning from 'Mardi,' but allowed himself to plunge more deeply
into the sea of philosophy and fantasy.

'Pierre; or, the Ambiguities' (1852) was published, and there
ensued a long series of hostile criticisms, ending with a severe,
though impartial, article by Fitz-James O'Brien in Putnam's
Monthly.  About the same time the whole stock of the author's
books was destroyed by fire, keeping them out of print at a
critical moment; and public interest, which until then had been
on the increase, gradually began to diminish.

After this Mr. Melville contributed several short stories to
Putnam's Monthly and Harper's Magazine.  Those in the former
periodical were collected in a volume as Piazza Tales (1856); and
of these 'Benito Cereno' and 'The Bell Tower' are equal to his
best previous efforts.

'Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile' (1855), first printed
as a serial in Putnam's, is an historical romance of the American
Revolution, based on the hero's own account of his adventures, as
given in a little volume picked up by Mr. Melville at a
book-stall.  The story is well told, but the book is hardly
worthy of the author of 'Typee.'  'The Confidence Man' (1857),
his last serious effort in prose fiction, does not seem to
require criticism.  

Mr. Melville's pen had rested for nearly ten years, when it was
again taken up to celebrate the events of the Civil War.  'Battle
Pieces and Aspects of the War' appeared in 1866.  Most of these
poems originated, according to the author, in an impulse imparted
by the fall of Richmond; but they have as subjects all the chief
incidents of the struggle.  The best of them are "The Stone
Fleet,' 'In the Prison Pen,' 'The College Colonel,' 'The March to
the Sea,' 'Running the Batteries,' and 'Sheridan at Cedar Creek.'
Some of these had a wide circulation in the press, and were
preserved in various anthologies.  'Clarel, a Poem and Pilgrimage
in the Holy Land' (1876), is a long mystical poem requiring, as
some one has said, a dictionary, a cyclopaedia, and a copy of the
Bible for its elucidation.  in the two privately printed volumes,
the arrangement of which occupied Mr. Melville during his last
illness, there are several fine lyrics.  The titles of these
books are, 'John Marr and Other Sailors' (1888), and 'Timoleon'
(1891).

 There is no question that Mr. Melville's absorption in
philosophical studies was quite as responsible as the failure of
his later books for his cessation from literary productiveness.
That he sometimes realised the situation will be seen by a
passage in 'Moby Dick':--

'Didn't I tell you so?'  said Flask.  'Yes, you'll soon see this
right whale's head hoisted up opposite that parmacetti's.'

'In good time Flask's saying proved true.  As before, the Pequod
steeply leaned over towards the sperm whale's head, now, by the
counterpoise of both heads, she regained her own keel, though
sorely strained, you may well believe.  So, when on one side you
hoist in Locke's head, you go over that way; but now, on the
other side, hoist in Kant's and you come back again; but in very
poor plight.  Thus, some minds forever keep trimming boat.  Oh,
ye foolish!  throw all these thunderheads overboard, and then you
will float right and light.'

Mr. Melville would have been more than mortal if he had been
indifferent to his loss of popularity.  Yet he seemed contented
to preserve an entirely independent attitude, and to trust to the
verdict of the future.  The smallest amount of activity would
have kept him before the public; but his reserve would not permit
this.  That reinstatement of his reputation cannot be doubted.  

In the editing of this reissue of 'Melville's Works,' I have been
much indebted to the scholarly aid of Dr. Titus Munson Coan,
whose familiarity with the languages of the Pacific has enabled
me to harmonise the spelling of foreign words in 'Typee' and
'Omoo,' though without changing the phonetic method of printing
adopted by Mr. Melville.  Dr. Coan has also been most helpful
with suggestions in other directions.  Finally, the delicate
fancy of La Fargehas supplemented the immortal pen-portrait of
the Typee maiden with a speaking impersonation of her beauty.

New York, June, 1892.



TYPEE

CHAPTER ONE

THE SEA--LONGINGS FOR SHORE--A LAND-SICK SHIP--DESTINATION OF THE
VOYAGERS--THE MARQUESAS--ADVENTURE OF A MISSIONARY'S WIFE AMONG
THE SAVAGES--CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTE OF THE QUEEN OF NUKUHEVA

Six months at sea!  Yes, reader, as I live, six months out of
sight of land; cruising after the sperm-whale beneath the
scorching sun of the Line, and tossed on the billows of the
wide-rolling Pacific--the sky above, the sea around, and nothing
else!  Weeks and weeks ago our fresh provisions were all
exhausted.  There is not a sweet potato left; not a single yam.  
Those glorious bunches of bananas, which once decorated our stern
and quarter-deck, have, alas, disappeared!  and the delicious
oranges which hung suspended from our tops and stays--they, too,
are gone!  Yes, they are all departed, and there is nothing left
us but salt-horse and sea-biscuit.  Oh!  ye state-room sailors,
who make so much ado about a fourteen-days' passage across the
Atlantic; who so pathetically relate the privations and hardships
of the sea, where, after a day of breakfasting, lunching, dining
off five courses, chatting, playing whist, and drinking
champagne-punch, it was your hard lot to be shut up in little
cabinets of mahogany and maple, and sleep for ten hours, with
nothing to disturb you but 'those good-for-nothing tars, shouting
and tramping overhead',--what would ye say to our six months out
of sight of land?

Oh!  for a refreshing glimpse of one blade of grass--for a snuff
at the fragrance of a handful of the loamy earth!  Is there
nothing fresh around us?  Is there no green thing to be seen?  
Yes, the inside of our bulwarks is painted green; but what a vile
and sickly hue it is, as if nothing bearing even the semblance of
verdure could flourish this weary way from land.  Even the bark
that once clung to the wood we use for fuel has been gnawed off
and devoured by the captain's pig; and so long ago, too, that the
pig himself has in turn been devoured.

There is but one solitary tenant in the chicken-coop, once a gay
and dapper young cock, bearing him so bravely among the coy hens.

But look at him now; there he stands, moping all the day long on
that everlasting one leg of his.  He turns with disgust from the
mouldy corn before him, and the brackish water in his little
trough.  He mourns no doubt his lost companions, literally
snatched from him one by one, and never seen again.  But his days
of mourning will be few for Mungo, our black cook, told me
yesterday that the word had at last gone forth, and poor Pedro's
fate was sealed.  His attenuated body will be laid out upon the
captain's table next Sunday, and long before night will be buried
with all the usual ceremonies beneath that worthy individual's
vest.  Who would believe that there could be any one so cruel as
to long for the decapitation of the luckless Pedro; yet the
sailors pray every minute, selfish fellows, that the miserable
fowl may be brought to his end.  They say the captain will never
point the ship for the land so long as he has in anticipation a
mess of fresh meat.  This unhappy bird can alone furnish it; and
when he is once devoured, the captain will come to his senses.  I
wish thee no harm, Pedro; but as thou art doomed, sooner or
later, to meet the fate of all thy race; and if putting a period
to thy existence is to be the signal for our deliverance,
why--truth to speak--I wish thy throat cut this very moment; for,
oh!  how I wish to see the living earth again!  The old ship
herself longs to look out upon the land from her hawse-holes once
more, and Jack Lewis said right the other day when the captain
found fault with his steering.

'Why d'ye see, Captain Vangs,' says bold Jack, 'I'm as good a
helmsman as ever put hand to spoke; but none of us can steer the
old lady now.  We can't keep her full and bye, sir; watch her
ever so close, she will fall off and then, sir, when I put the
helm down so gently, and try like to coax her to the work, she
won't take it kindly, but will fall round off again; and it's all
because she knows the land is under the lee, sir, and she won't
go any more to windward.'  Aye, and why should she, Jack?  didn't
every one of her stout timbers grow on shore, and hasn't she
sensibilities; as well as we?

Poor old ship!  Her very looks denote her desires!  how
deplorably she appears!  The paint on her sides, burnt up by the
scorching sun, is puffed out and cracked.  See the weeds she
trails along with her, and what an unsightly bunch of those
horrid barnacles has formed about her stern-piece; and every time
she rises on a sea, she shows her copper torn away, or hanging in
jagged strips.

Poor old ship!  I say again: for six months she has been rolling
and pitching about, never for one moment at rest.  But courage,
old lass, I hope to see thee soon within a biscuit's toss of the
merry land, riding snugly at anchor in some green cove, and
sheltered from the boisterous winds.

         .  .  .  .  .  .  

'Hurra, my lads!  It's a settled thing; next week we shape our
course to the Marquesas!'  The Marquesas!  What strange visions
of outlandish things does the very name spirit up!  Naked
houris--cannibal banquets--groves of cocoanut--coral
reefs--tattooed chiefs--and bamboo temples; sunny valleys planted
with bread-fruit-trees--carved canoes dancing on the flashing
blue waters--savage woodlands guarded by horrible
idols--HEATHENISH RITES AND HUMAN SACRIFICES.

Such were the strangely jumbled anticipations that haunted me
during our passage from the cruising ground.  I felt an
irresistible curiosity to see those islands which the olden
voyagers had so glowingly described.

The group for which we were now steering (although among the
earliest of European discoveries in the South Seas, having been
first visited in the year 1595) still continues to be tenanted by
beings as strange and barbarous as ever.  The missionaries sent
on a heavenly errand, had sailed by their lovely shores, and had
abandoned them to their idols of wood and stone.  How interesting
the circumstances under which they were discovered!  In the
watery path of Mendanna, cruising in quest of some region of
gold, these isles had sprung up like a scene of enchantment, and
for a moment the Spaniard believed his bright dream was realized.

In honour of the Marquess de Mendoza, then viceroy of Peru--under
whose auspices the navigator sailed--he bestowed upon them the
name which denoted the rank of his patron, and gave to the world
on his return a vague and magnificent account of their beauty.  
But these islands, undisturbed for years, relapsed into their
previous obscurity; and it is only recently that anything has
been known concerning them.  Once in the course of a half
century, to be sure, some adventurous rover would break in upon
their peaceful repose.  and astonished at the unusual scene,
would be almost tempted to claim the merit of a new discovery.

Of this interesting group, but little account has ever been
given, if we except the slight mention made of them in the
sketches of South-Sea voyages.  Cook, in his repeated
circumnavigations of the globe, barely touched at their shores;
and all that we know about them is from a few general narratives.

Among these, there are two that claim particular notice.  
Porter's 'Journal of the Cruise of the U.S.  frigate Essex, in
the Pacific, during the late War', is said to contain some
interesting particulars concerning the islanders.  This is a
work, however, which I have never happened to meet with; and
Stewart, the chaplain of the American sloop of war Vincennes, has
likewise devoted a portion of his book, entitled 'A Visit to the
South Seas', to the same subject.

Within the last few, years American and English vessels engaged
in the extensive whale fisheries of the Pacific have
occasionally, when short of provisions, put into the commodious
harbour which there is in one of the islands; but a fear of the
natives, founded on the recollection of the dreadful fate which
many white men have received at their hands, has deterred their
crews from intermixing with the population sufficiently to gain
any insight into their peculiar customs and manners.

The Protestant Missions appear to have despaired of reclaiming
these islands from heathenism.  The usage they have in every case
received from the natives has been such as to intimidate the
boldest of their number.  Ellis, in his 'Polynesian Researches',
gives some interesting accounts of the abortive attempts made by
the ''Tahiti Mission'' to establish a branch Mission upon certain
islands of the group.  A short time before my visit to the
Marquesas, a somewhat amusing incident took place in connection
with these efforts, which I cannot avoid relating.

An intrepid missionary, undaunted by the ill-success that had
attended all previous endeavours to conciliate the savages, and
believing much in the efficacy of female influence, introduced
among them his young and beautiful wife, the first white woman
who had ever visited their shores.  The islanders at first gazed
in mute admiration at so unusual a prodigy, and seemed inclined
to regard it as some new divinity.  But after a short time,
becoming familiar with its charming aspect, and jealous of the
folds which encircled its form, they sought to pierce the sacred
veil of calico in which it was enshrined, and in the
gratification of their curiosity so far overstepped the limits of
good breeding, as deeply to offend the lady's sense of decorum.  
Her sex once ascertained, their idolatry was changed into
contempt and there was no end to the contumely showered upon her
by the savages, who were exasperated at the deception which they
conceived had been practised upon them.  To the horror of her
affectionate spouse, she was stripped of her garments, and given
to understand that she could no longer carry on her deceits with
impunity.  The gentle dame was not sufficiently evangelical to
endure this, and, fearful of further improprieties, she forced
her husband to relinquish his undertaking, and together they
returned to Tahiti.

Not thus shy of exhibiting her charms was the Island Queen
herself, the beauteous wife of Movianna, the king of Nukuheva.  
Between two and three years after the adventures recorded in this
volume, I chanced, while aboard of a man-of-war to touch at these
islands.  The French had then held possession of the Marquesas
some time, and already prided themselves upon the beneficial
effects of their jurisdiction, as discernible in the deportment
of the natives.  To be sure, in one of their efforts at reform
they had slaughtered about a hundred and fifty of them at
Whitihoo--but let that pass.  At the time I mention, the French
squadron was rendezvousing in the bay of Nukuheva, and during an
interview between one of their captains and our worthy Commodore,
it was suggested by the former, that we, as the flag-ship of the
American squadron, should receive, in state, a visit from the
royal pair.  The French officer likewise represented, with
evident satisfaction, that under their tuition the king and queen
had imbibed proper notions of their elevated station, and on all
ceremonious occasions conducted themselves with suitable dignity. 
Accordingly, preparations were made to give their majesties a
reception on board in a style corresponding with their rank.

One bright afternoon, a gig, gaily bedizened with streamers, was
observed to shove off from the side of one of the French
frigates, and pull directly for our gangway.  In the stem sheets
reclined Mowanna and his consort.  As they approached, we paid
them all the honours clue to royalty;--manning our yards, firing
a salute, and making a prodigious hubbub.

They ascended the accommodation ladder, were greeted by the
Commodore, hat in hand, and passing along the quarter-deck, the
marine guard presented arms, while the band struck up 'The King
of the Cannibal Islands'.  So far all went well.  The French
officers grimaced and smiled in exceedingly high spirits,
wonderfully pleased with the discreet manner in which these
distinguished personages behaved themselves.

Their appearance was certainly calculated to produce an effect.  
His majesty was arrayed in a magnificent military uniform, stiff
with gold lace and embroidery, while his shaven crown was
concealed by a huge chapeau bras, waving with ostrich plumes.  
There was one slight blemish, however, in his appearance.  A
broad patch of tattooing stretched completely across his face, in
a line with his eyes, making him look as if he wore a huge pair
of goggles; and royalty in goggles suggested some ludicrous
ideas.  But it was in the adornment of the fair person of his
dark-complexioned spouse that the tailors of the fleet had
evinced the gaiety of their national taste.  She was habited in a
gaudy tissue of scarlet cloth, trimmed with yellow silk, which,
descending a little below the knees, exposed to view her bare
legs, embellished with spiral tattooing, and somewhat resembling
two miniature Trajan's columns.  Upon her head was a fanciful
turban of purple velvet, figured with silver sprigs, and
surmounted by a tuft of variegated feathers.

The ship's company, crowding into the gangway to view the sight,
soon arrested her majesty's attention.  She singled out from
their number an old salt, whose bare arms and feet, and exposed
breast, were covered with as many inscriptions in India ink as
the lid of an Egyptian sarcophagus.  Notwithstanding all the sly
hints and remonstrances of the French officers, she immediately
approached the man, and pulling further open the bosom of his
duck frock, and rolling up the leg of his wide trousers, she
gazed with admiration at the bright blue and vermilion pricking
thus disclosed to view.  She hung over the fellow, caressing him,
and expressing her delight in a variety of wild exclamations and
gestures.  The embarrassment of the polite Gauls at such an
unlooked-for occurrence may be easily imagined, but picture their
consternation, when all at once the royal lady, eager to display
the hieroglyphics on her own sweet form, bent forward for a
moment, and turning sharply round, threw up the skirt of her
mantle and revealed a sight from which the aghast Frenchmen
retreated precipitately, and tumbling into their boats, fled the
scene of so shocking a catastrophe.



CHAPTER TWO

PASSAGE FROM THE CRUISING GROUND TO THE MARQUESAS--SLEEPY TIMES
ABOARD SHIP--SOUTH SEA SCENERY--LAND HO--THE FRENCH SQUADRON
DISCOVERED AT ANCHOR IN THE BAY OF NUKUHEVA--STRANGE PILOT--
ESCORT OF CANOES--A FLOTILLA OF COCOANUTS--SWIMMING VISITORS--THE
DOLLY BOARDED BY THEM--STATE OF AFFAIRS THAT ENSUE

I CAN never forget the eighteen or twenty days during which the
light trade-winds were silently sweeping us towards the islands.  
In pursuit of the sperm whale, we had been cruising on the line
some twenty degrees to the westward of the Gallipagos; and all
that we had to do, when our course was determined on, was to
square in the yards and keep the vessel before the breeze, and
then the good ship and the steady gale did the rest between them. 
The man at the wheel never vexed the old lady with any
superfluous steering, but comfortably adjusting his limbs at the
tiller, would doze away by the hour.  True to her work, the Dolly
headed to her course, and like one of those characters who always
do best when let alone, she jogged on her way like a veteran old
sea-pacer as she was.

What a delightful, lazy, languid time we had whilst we were thus
gliding along!  There was nothing to be done; a circumstance that
happily suited our disinclination to do anything.  We abandoned
the fore-peak altogether, and spreading an awning over the
forecastle, slept, ate, and lounged under it the live-long day.  
Every one seemed to be under the influence of some narcotic.  
Even the officers aft, whose duty required them never to be
seated while keeping a deck watch, vainly endeavoured to keep on
their pins; and were obliged invariably to compromise the matter
by leaning up against the bulwarks, and gazing abstractedly over
the side.  Reading was out of the question; take a book in your
hand, and you were asleep in an instant.

Although I could not avoid yielding in a great measure to the
general languor, still at times I contrived to shake off the
spell, and to appreciate the beauty of the scene around me.  The
sky presented a clear expanse of the most delicate blue, except
along the skirts of the horizon, where you might see a thin
drapery of pale clouds which never varied their form or colour.  
The long, measured, dirge-like well of the Pacific came rolling
along, with its surface broken by little tiny waves, sparkling in
the sunshine.  Every now and then a shoal of flying fish, scared
from the water under the bows, would leap into the air, and fall
the next moment like a shower of silver into the sea.  Then you
would see the superb albicore, with his glittering sides, sailing
aloft, and often describing an arc in his descent, disappear on
the surface of the water.  Far off, the lofty jet of the whale
might be seen, and nearer at hand the prowling shark, that
villainous footpad of the seas, would come skulking along, and,
at a wary distance, regard us with his evil eye.  At times, some
shapeless monster of the deep, floating on the surface, would, as
we approached, sink slowly into the blue waters, and fade away
from the sight.  But the most impressive feature of the scene was
the almost unbroken silence that reigned over sky and water.  
Scarcely a sound could be heard but the occasional breathing of
the grampus, and the rippling at the cut-water.

As we drew nearer the land, I hailed with delight the appearance
of innumerable sea-fowl.  Screaming and whirling in spiral
tracks, they would accompany the vessel, and at times alight on
our yards and stays.  That piratical-looking fellow,
appropriately named the man-of-war's-hawk, with his blood-red
bill and raven plumage, would come sweeping round us in gradually
diminishing circles, till you could distinctly mark the strange
flashings of his eye; and then, as if satisfied with his
observation, would sail up into the air and disappear from the
view.  Soon, other evidences of our vicinity to the land were
apparent, and it was not long before the glad announcement of its
being in sight was heard from aloft,--given with that peculiar
prolongation of sound that a sailor loves--'Land ho!'

The captain, darting on deck from the cabin, bawled lustily for
his spy-glass; the mate in still louder accents hailed the
masthead with a tremendous 'where-away?'  The black cook thrust
his woolly head from the galley, and Boatswain, the dog, leaped
up between the knight-heads, and barked most furiously.  Land ho!
Aye, there it was.  A hardly perceptible blue irregular outline,
indicating the bold contour of the lofty heights of Nukuheva.

This island, although generally called one of the Marquesas, is
by some navigators considered as forming one of a distinct
cluster, comprising the islands of Ruhooka, Ropo, and Nukuheva;
upon which three the appellation of the Washington Group has been
bestowed.  They form a triangle, and lie within the parallels of
8 degrees 38" and 9 degrees 32" South latitude and 139 degrees
20" and 140 degrees 10" West longitude from Greenwich.  With how
little propriety they are to be regarded as forming a separate
group will be at once apparent, when it is considered that they
lie in the immediate vicinity of the other islands, that is to
say, less than a degree to the northwest of them; that their
inhabitants speak the Marquesan dialect, and that their laws,
religion, and general customs are identical.  The only reason why
they were ever thus arbitrarily distinguished may be attributed
to the singular fact, that their existence was altogether unknown
to the world until the year 1791, when they were discovered by
Captain Ingraham, of Boston, Massachusetts, nearly two centuries
after the discovery of the adjacent islands by the agent of the
Spanish Viceroy.  Notwithstanding this, I shall follow the
example of most voyagers, and treat of them as forming part and
parcel of Marquesas.

Nukuheva is the most important of these islands, being the only
one at which ships are much in the habit of touching, and is
celebrated as being the place where the adventurous Captain
Porter refitted his ships during the late war between England and
the United States, and whence he sallied out upon the large
whaling fleet then sailing under the enemy's flag in the
surrounding seas.  This island is about twenty miles in length
and nearly as many in breadth.  It has three good harbours on its
coast; the largest and best of which is called by the people
living in its vicinity 'Taiohae', and by Captain Porter was
denominated Massachusetts Bay.  Among the adverse tribes dwelling
about the shores of the other bays, and by all voyagers, it is
generally known by the name bestowed upon the island
itself--Nukuheva.  Its inhabitants have become somewhat
corrupted, owing to their recent commerce with Europeans, but so
far as regards their peculiar customs and general mode of life,
they retain their original primitive character, remaining very
nearly in the same state of nature in which they were first
beheld by white men.  The hostile clans, residing in the more
remote sections of the island, and very seldom holding any
communication with foreigners, are in every respect unchanged
from their earliest known condition.

In the bay of Nukuheva was the anchorage we desired to reach.  We
had perceived the loom of the mountains about sunset; so that
after running all night with a very light breeze, we found
ourselves close in with the island the next morning, but as the
bay we sought lay on its farther side, we were obliged to sail
some distance along the shore, catching, as we proceeded, short
glimpses of blooming valleys, deep glens, waterfalls, and waving
groves hidden here and there by projecting and rocky headlands,
every moment opening to the view some new and startling scene of
beauty.

Those who for the first time visit the South Sea, generally are
surprised at the appearance of the islands when beheld from the
sea.  From the vague accounts we sometimes have of their beauty,
many people are apt to picture to themselves enamelled and softly
swelling plains, shaded over with delicious groves, and watered
by purling brooks, and the entire country but little elevated
above the surrounding ocean.  The reality is very different; bold
rock-bound coasts, with the surf beating high against the lofty
cliffs, and broken here and there into deep inlets, which open to
the view thickly-wooded valleys, separated by the spurs of
mountains clothed with tufted grass, and sweeping down towards
the sea from an elevated and furrowed interior, form the
principal features of these islands.

Towards noon we drew abreast the entrance go the harbour, and at
last we slowly swept by the intervening promontory, and entered
the bay of Nukuheva.  No description can do justice to its
beauty; but that beauty was lost to me then, and I saw nothing
but the tri-coloured flag of France trailing over the stern of
six vessels, whose black hulls and bristling broadsides
proclaimed their warlike character.  There they were, floating in
that lovely bay, the green eminences of the shore looking down so
tranquilly upon them, as if rebuking the sternness of their
aspect.  To my eye nothing could be more out of keeping than the
presence of these vessels; but we soon learnt what brought them
there.  The whole group of islands had just been taken possession
of by Rear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars, in the name of the
invincible French nation.

This item of information was imparted to us by a most
extraordinary individual, a genuine South-Sea vagabond, who came
alongside of us in a whale-boat as soon as we entered the bay,
and, by the aid of some benevolent persons at the gangway, was
assisted on board, for our visitor was in that interesting stage
of intoxication when a man is amiable and helpless.  Although he
was utterly unable to stand erect or to navigate his body across
the deck, he still magnanimously proffered his services to pilot
the ship to a good and secure anchorage.  Our captain, however,
rather distrusted his ability in this respect, and refused to
recognize his claim to the character he assumed; but our
gentleman was determined to play his part, for, by dint of much
scrambling, he succeeded in getting into the weather-quarter
boat, where he steadied himself by holding on to a shroud, and
then commenced issuing his commands with amazing volubility and
very peculiar gestures.  Of course no one obeyed his orders; but
as it was impossible to quiet him, we swept by the ships of the
squadron with this strange fellow performing his antics in full
view of all the French officers.

We afterwards learned that our eccentric friend had been a
lieutenant in the English navy; but having disgraced his flag by
some criminal conduct in one of the principal ports on the main,
he had deserted his ship, and spent many years wandering among
the islands of the Pacific, until accidentally being at Nukuheva
when the French took possession of the place, he had been
appointed pilot of the harbour by the newly constituted
authorities.

As we slowly advanced up the bay, numerous canoes pushed off from
the surrounding shores, and we were soon in the midst of quite a
flotilla of them, their savage occupants struggling to get aboard
of us, and jostling one another in their ineffectual attempts.  
Occasionally the projecting out-riggers of their slight shallops
running foul of one another, would become entangled beneath the
water, threatening to capsize the canoes, when a scene of
confusion would ensue that baffles description.  Such strange
outcries and passionate gesticulations I never certainly heard or
saw before.  You would have thought the islanders were on the
point of flying at each other's throats, whereas they were only
amicably engaged in disentangling their boats.

Scattered here and there among the canoes might be seen numbers
of cocoanuts floating closely together in circular groups, and
bobbing up and down with every wave.  By some inexplicable means
these cocoanuts were all steadily approaching towards the ship.  
As I leaned curiously over the side, endeavouring to solve their
mysterious movements, one mass far in advance of the rest
attracted my attention.  In its centre was something I could take
for nothing else than a cocoanut, but which I certainly
considered one of the most extraordinary specimens of the fruit I
had ever seen.  It kept twirling and dancing about among the rest
in the most singular manner, and as it drew nearer I thought it
bore a remarkable resemblance to the brown shaven skull of one of
the savages.  Presently it betrayed a pair of eyes, and soon I
became aware that what I had supposed to have been one of the
fruit was nothing else than the head of an islander, who had
adopted this singular method of bringing his produce to market.  
The cocoanuts were all attached to one another by strips of the
husk, partly torn from the shell and rudely fastened together.  
Their proprietor inserting his head into the midst of them,
impelled his necklace of cocoanuts through the water by striking
out beneath the surface with his feet.

I was somewhat astonished to perceive that among the number of
natives that surrounded us, not a single female was to be seen.  
At that time I was ignorant of the fact that by the operation of
the 'taboo' the use of canoes in all parts of the island is
rigorously prohibited to the entire sex, for whom it is death
even to be seen entering one when hauled on shore; consequently,
whenever a Marquesan lady voyages by water, she puts in
requisition the paddles of her own fair body.

We had approached within a mile and a half perhaps of this foot
of the bay, when some of the islanders, who by this time had
managed to scramble aboard of us at the risk of swamping their
canoes, directed our attention to a singular commotion in the
water ahead of the vessel.  At first I imagined it to be produced
by a shoal of fish sporting on the surface, but our savage
friends assured us that it was caused by a shoal of 'whinhenies'
(young girls), who in this manner were coming off from the shore
to welcome is.  As they drew nearer, and I watched the rising and
sinking of their forms, and beheld the uplifted right arm bearing
above the water the girdle of tappa, and their long dark hair
trailing beside them as they swam, I almost fancied they could be
nothing else than so many mermaids--and very like mermaids they
behaved too.

We were still some distance from the beach, and under slow
headway, when we sailed right into the midst of these swimming
nymphs, and they boarded us at every quarter; many seizing hold
of the chain-plates and springing into the chains; others, at the
peril of being run over by the vessel in her course, catching at
the bob-stays, and wreathing their slender forms about the ropes,
hung suspended in the air.  All of them at length succeeded in
getting up the ship's side, where they clung dripping with the
brine and glowing from the bath, their jet-black tresses
streaming over their shoulders, and half enveloping their
otherwise naked forms.  There they hung, sparkling with savage
vivacity, laughing gaily at one another, and chattering away with
infinite glee.  Nor were they idle the while, for each one
performed the simple offices of the toilette for the other.  
Their luxuriant locks, wound up and twisted into the smallest
possible compass, were freed from the briny element; the whole
person carefully dried, and from a little round shell that passed
from hand to hand, anointed with a fragrant oil: their adornments
were completed by passing a few loose folds of white tappa, in a
modest cincture, around the waist.  Thus arrayed they no longer
hesitated, but flung themselves lightly over the bulwarks, and
were quickly frolicking about the decks.  Many of them went
forward, perching upon the headrails or running out upon the
bowsprit, while others seated themselves upon the taffrail, or
reclined at full length upon the boats.  What a sight for us
bachelor sailors!  How avoid so dire a temptation?  For who could
think of tumbling these artless creatures overboard, when they
had swum miles to welcome us?

Their appearance perfectly amazed me; their extreme youth, the
light clear brown of their complexions, their delicate features,
and inexpressibly graceful figures, their softly moulded limbs,
and free unstudied action, seemed as strange as beautiful.

The Dolly was fairly captured; and never I will say was vessel
carried before by such a dashing and irresistible party of
boarders!  The ship taken, we could not do otherwise than yield
ourselves prisoners, and for the whole period that she remained
in the bay, the Dolly, as well as her crew, were completely in
the hands of the mermaids.

In the evening after we had come to an anchor the deck was
illuminated with lanterns, and this picturesque band of sylphs,
tricked out with flowers, and dressed in robes of variegated
tappa, got up a ball in great style.  These females are
passionately fond of dancing, and in the wild grace and spirit of
the style excel everything I have ever seen.  The varied dances
of the Marquesan girls are beautiful in the extreme, but there is
an abandoned voluptuousness in their character which I dare not
attempt to describe.



CHAPTER THREE

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LATE OPERATIONS OF THE FRENCH AT THE
MARQUESAS--PRUDENT CONDUCT OF THE ADMIRAL--SENSATION PRODUCED BY
THE ARRIVAL OF THE STRANGERS--THE FIRST HORSE SEEN BY THE
ISLANDERS--REFLECTIONS--MISERABLE SUBTERFUGE OF THE
FRENCH--DIGRESSION CONCERNING TAHITI--SEIZURE OF THE ISLAND BY
THE ADMIRAL--SPIRITED CONDUCT OF AN ENGLISH LADY

IT was in the summer of 1842 that we arrived at the islands; the
French had then held possession of them for several weeks.  
During this time they had visited some of the principal places in
the group, and had disembarked at various points about five
hundred troops.  These were employed in constructing works of
defence, and otherwise providing against the attacks of the
natives, who at any moment might be expected to break out in open
hostility.  The islanders looked upon the people who made this
cavalier appropriation of their shores with mingled feelings of
fear and detestation.  They cordially hated them; but the
impulses of their resentment were neutralized by their dread of
the floating batteries, which lay with their fatal tubes
ostentatiously pointed, not at fortifications and redoubts, but
at a handful of bamboo sheds, sheltered in a grove of cocoanuts!  
A valiant warrior doubtless, but a prudent one too, was this same
Rear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars.  Four heavy, doublebanked frigates
and three corvettes to frighten a parcel of naked heathen into
subjection!  Sixty-eight pounders to demolish huts of cocoanut
boughs, and Congreve rockets to set on fire a few canoe sheds!

At Nukuheva, there were about one hundred soldiers ashore.  They
were encamped in tents, constructed of the old sails and spare
spars of the squadron, within the limits of a redoubt mounted
with a few nine-pounders, and surrounded with a fosse.  Every
other day, these troops were marched out in martial array, to a
level piece of ground in the vicinity, and there for hours went
through all sorts of military evolutions, surrounded by flocks of
the natives, who looked on with savage admiration at the show,
and as savage a hatred of the actors.  A regiment of the Old
Guard, reviewed on a summer's day in the Champs Elysees, could
not have made a more critically correct appearance.  The
officers' regimentals, resplendent with gold lace and embroidery
as if purposely calculated to dazzle the islanders, looked as if
just unpacked from their Parisian cases.

The sensation produced by the presence of the strangers had not
in the least subsided at the period of our arrival at the
islands.  The natives still flocked in numbers about the
encampment, and watched with the liveliest curiosity everything
that was going forward.  A blacksmith's forge, which had been set
up in the shelter of a grove near the beach, attracted so great a
crowd, that it required the utmost efforts of the sentries posted
around to keep the inquisitive multitude at a sufficient distance
to allow the workmen to ply their vocation.  But nothing gained
so large a share of admiration as a horse, which had been brought
from Valparaiso by the Achille, one of the vessels of the
squadron.  The animal, a remarkably fine one, had been taken
ashore, and stabled in a hut of cocoanut boughs within the
fortified enclosure.  Occasionally it was brought out, and, being
gaily caparisoned, was ridden by one of the officers at full
speed over the hard sand beach.  This performance was sure to be
hailed with loud plaudits, and the 'puarkee nuee' (big hog) was
unanimously pronounced by the islanders to be the most
extraordinary specimen of zoology that had ever come under their
observation.

The expedition for the occupation of the Marquesas had sailed
from Brest in the spring of 1842, and the secret of its
destination was solely in the possession of its commander.  No
wonder that those who contemplated such a signal infraction of
the rights of humanity should have sought to veil the enormity
from the eyes of the world.  And yet, notwithstanding their
iniquitous conduct in this and in other matters, the French have
ever plumed themselves upon being the most humane and polished of
nations.  A high degree of refinement, however, does not seem to
subdue our wicked propensities so much after all; and were
civilization itself to be estimated by some of its results, it
would seem perhaps better for what we call the barbarous part of
the world to remain unchanged.

One example of the shameless subterfuges under which the French
stand prepared to defend whatever cruelties they may hereafter
think fit to commit in bringing the Marquesan natives into
subjection is well worthy of being recorded.  On some flimsy
pretext or other Mowanna, the king of Nukuheva, whom the invaders
by extravagant presents cajoled over to their interests, and move
about like a mere puppet, has been set up as the rightful
sovereign of the entire island--the alleged ruler by prescription
of various clans, who for ages perhaps have treated with each
other as separate nations.  To reinstate this much-injured prince
in the assumed dignities of his ancestors, the disinterested
strangers have come all the way from France: they are determined
that his title shall be acknowledged.  If any tribe shall refuse
to recognize the authority of the French, by bowing down to the
laced chapeau of Mowanna, let them abide the consequences of
their obstinacy.  Under cover of a similar pretence, have the
outrages and massacres at Tahiti the beautiful, the queen of the
South Seas, been perpetrated.

On this buccaneering expedition, Rear Admiral Du Petit Thouars,
leaving the rest of his squadron at the Marquesas,--which had
then been occupied by his forces about five months--set sail for
the doomed island in the Reine Blanche frigate.  On his arrival,
as an indemnity for alleged insults offered to the flag of his
country, he demanded some twenty or thirty thousand dollars to be
placed in his hands forthwith, and in default of payment,
threatened to land and take possession of the place.

The frigate, immediately upon coming to an anchor, got springs on
her cables, and with he guns; cast loose and her men at their
quarters, lay in the circular basin of Papeete, with her
broadside bearing upon the devoted town; while her numerous
cutters, hauled in order alongside, were ready to effect a
landing, under cover of her batteries.  She maintained this
belligerent attitude for several days, during which time a series
of informal negotiations were pending, and wide alarm spread over
the island.  Many of the Tahitians were at first disposed to
resort to arms, and drive the invaders from their shores; but
more pacific and feebler counsels ultimately prevailed.  The
unfortunate queen Pomare, incapable of averting the impending
calamity, terrified at the arrogance of the insolent Frenchman,
and driven at last to despair, fled by night in a canoe to Emio.

During the continuance of the panic there occurred an instance of
feminine heroism that I cannot omit to record.

In the grounds of the famous missionary consul, Pritchard, then
absent in London, the consular flag of Britain waved as usual
during the day, from a lofty staff planted within a few yards of
the beach, and in full view of the frigate.  One morning an
officer, at the head of a party of men, presented himself at the
verandah of Mr Pritchard's house, and inquired in broken English
for the lady his wife.  The matron soon made her appearance; and
the polite Frenchman, making one of his best bows, and playing
gracefully with the aiguillettes that danced upon his breast,
proceeded in courteous accents to deliver his mission.  'The
admiral desired the flag to be hauled down--hoped it would be
perfectly agreeable--and his men stood ready to perform the
duty.'  'Tell the Pirate your master,' replied the spirited
Englishwoman, pointing to the staff, 'that if he wishes to strike
these colours, he must come and perform the act himself; I will
suffer no one else to do it.'  The lady then bowed haughtily and
withdrew into the house.  As the discomfited officer slowly
walked away, he looked up to the flag, and perceived that the
cord by which it was elevated to its place, led from the top of
the staff, across the lawn, to an open upper window of the
mansion, where sat the lady from whom he had just parted,
tranquilly engaged in knitting.  Was that flag hauled down?  Mrs
Pritchard thinks not; and Rear-Admiral Du Petit Thouars is
believed to be of the same opinion.



CHAPTER FOUR

STATE OF AFFAIRS ABOARD THE SHIP--CONTENTS OF HER LARDER--LENGTH
OF SOUTH SEAMEN'S VOYAGES--ACCOUNT OF A FLYING
WHALE-MAN--DETERMINATION TO LEAVE THE VESSEL--THE BAY OF
NUKUHEVA--THE TYPEES--INVASION OF THEIR VALLEY BY PORTER --
REFLECTIONS -- GLEN OF TIOR--INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE OLD KING AND
THE FRENCH ADMIRAL

OUR ship had not been many days in the harbour of Nukuheva before
I came to the determination of leaving her.  That my reasons for
resolving to take this step were numerous and weighty, may be
inferred from the fact that I chose rather to risk my fortunes
among the savages of the island than to endure another voyage on
board the Dolly.  To use the concise, pointblank phrase of the
sailors.  I had made up my mind to 'run away'.  Now as a meaning
is generally attached to these two words no way flattering to the
individual to whom they are applied, it behoves me, for the sake
of my own character, to offer some explanation of my conduct.

When I entered on board the Dolly, I signed as a matter of course
the ship's articles, thereby voluntarily engaging and legally
binding myself to serve in a certain capacity for the period of
the voyage; and, special considerations apart, I was of course
bound to fulfill the agreement.  But in all contracts, if one
party fail to perform his share of the compact, is not the other
virtually absolved from his liability?  Who is there who will not
answer in the affirmative?

Having settled the principle, then, let me apply it to the
particular case in question.  In numberless instances had not
only the implied but the specified conditions of the articles
been violated on the part of the ship in which I served.  The
usage on board of her was tyrannical; the sick had been inhumanly
neglected; the provisions had been doled out in scanty allowance;
and her cruises were unreasonably protracted.  The captain was
the author of the abuses; it was in vain to think that he would
either remedy them, or alter his conduct, which was arbitrary and
violent in the extreme.  His prompt reply to all complaints and
remonstrances was--the butt-end of a handspike, so convincingly
administered as effectually to silence the aggrieved party.

To whom could we apply for redress?  We had left both law and
equity on the other side of the Cape; and unfortunately, with a
very few exceptions, our crew was composed of a parcel of
dastardly and meanspirited wretches, divided among themselves,
and only united in enduring without resistance the unmitigated
tyranny of the captain.  It would have been mere madness for any
two or three of the number, unassisted by the rest, to attempt
making a stand against his ill usage.  They would only have
called down upon themselves the particular vengeance of this
'Lord of the Plank', and subjected their shipmates to additional
hardships.

But, after all, these things could have been endured awhile, had
we entertained the hope of being speedily delivered from them by
the due completion of the term of our servitude.  But what a
dismal prospect awaited us in this quarter!  The longevity of
Cape Horn whaling voyages is proverbial, frequently extending
over a period of four or five years.

Some long-haired, bare-necked youths, who, forced by the united
influences of Captain Marryatt and hard times, embark at
Nantucket for a pleasure excursion to the Pacific, and whose
anxious mothers provide them, with bottled milk for the occasion,
oftentimes return very respectable middle-aged gentlemen.

The very preparations made for one of these expeditions are
enough to frighten one.  As the vessel carries out no cargo, her
hold is filled with provisions for her own consumption.  The
owners, who officiate as caterers for the voyage, supply the
larder with an abundance of dainties.  Delicate morsels of beef
and pork, cut on scientific principles from every part of the
animal, and of all conceivable shapes and sizes, are carefully
packed in salt, and stored away in barrels; affording a
never-ending variety in their different degrees of toughness, and
in the peculiarities of their saline properties.  Choice old
water too, decanted into stout six-barrel-casks, and two pints of
which is allowed every day to each soul on board; together with
ample store of sea-bread, previously reduced to a state of
petrifaction, with a view to preserve it either from decay or
consumption in the ordinary mode, are likewise provided for the
nourishment and gastronomic enjoyment of the crew.

But not to speak of the quality of these articles of sailors'
fare, the abundance in which they are put onboard a whaling
vessel is almost incredible.  Oftentimes, when we had occasion to
break out in the hold, and I beheld the successive tiers of casks
and barrels, whose contents were all destined to be consumed in
due course by the ship's company, my heart has sunk within me.

Although, as a general case, a ship unlucky in falling in with
whales continues to cruise after them until she has barely
sufficient provisions remaining to take her home, turning round
then quietly and making the best of her way to her friends, yet
there are instances when even this natural obstacle to the
further prosecution of the voyage is overcome by headstrong
captains, who, bartering the fruits of their hard-earned toils
for a new supply of provisions in some of the ports of Chili or
Peru, begin the voyage afresh with unabated zeal and
perseverance.  It is in vain that the owners write urgent letters
to him to sail for home, and for their sake to bring back the
ship, since it appears he can put nothing in her.  Not he.  He
has registered a vow: he will fill his vessel with good sperm
oil, or failing to do so, never again strike Yankee soundings.

I heard of one whaler, which after many years' absence was given
up for lost.  The last that had been heard of her was a shadowy
report of her having touched at some of those unstable islands in
the far Pacific, whose eccentric wanderings are carefully noted
in each new edition of the South-Sea charts.  After a long
interval, however, 'The Perseverance'--for that was her name--was
spoken somewhere in the vicinity of the ends of the earth,
cruising along as leisurely as ever, her sails all bepatched and
be quilted with rope-yarns, her spars fished with old pipe
staves, and her rigging knotted and spliced in every possible
direction.  Her crew was composed of some twenty venerable
Greenwich-pensioner-looking old salts, who just managed to hobble
about deck.  The ends of all the running ropes, with the
exception of the signal halyards and poop-down-haul, were rove
through snatch-blocks,and led to the capstan or windlass, so that
not a yard was braced or a sad set without the assistance of
machinery.

Her hull was encrusted with barnacles, which completely encased
her.  Three pet sharks followed in her wake, and every day came
alongside to regale themselves from the contents of the cook's
bucket, which were pitched over to them.  A vast shoal of bonetas
and albicores always kept her company.

Such was the account I heard of this vessel and the remembrance
of it always haunted me; what eventually became of her I never
learned; at any rate: he never reached home, and I suppose she is
still regularly tacking twice in the twenty-four hours somewhere
off Desolate Island, or the Devil's-Tail Peak.

Having said thus much touching the usual length of these voyages,
when I inform the reader that ours had as it were just commenced,
we being only fifteen months out, and even at that time hailed as
a late arrival and boarded for news, he will readily perceive
that there was little to encourage one in looking forward to the
future, especially as I had always had a presentiment that we
should make an unfortunate voyage, and our experience so far had
justified the expectation.

I may here state, and on my faith as an honest man, that though
more than three years have elapsed since I left this same
identical vessel, she still continues; in the Pacific, and but a
few days since I saw her reported in the papers as having touched
at the Sandwich Islands previous to going on the coast of Japan.

But to return to my narrative.  Placed in these circumstances
then, with no prospect of matters mending if I remained aboard
the Dolly, I at once made up my mind to leave her: to be sure it
was rather an inglorious thing to steal away privily from those
at whose hands I had received wrongs and outrages that I could
not resent; but how was such a course to be avoided when it was
the only alternative left me?  Having made up my mind, I
proceeded to acquire all the information I could obtain relating
to the island and its inhabitants, with a view of shaping my
plans of escape accordingly.  The result of these inquiries I
will now state, in order that the ensuing narrative may be the
better understood.

The bay of Nukuheva in which we were then lying is an expanse of
water not unlike in figure the space included within the limits
of a horse-shoe.  It is, perhaps, nine miles in circumference.  
You approach it from the sea by a narrow entrance, flanked on
each side by two small twin islets which soar conically to the
height of some five hundred feet.  From these the shore recedes
on both hands, and describes a deep semicircle.

From the verge of the water the land rises uniformly on all
sides, with green and sloping acclivities, until from gently
rolling hill-sides and moderate elevations it insensibly swells
into lofty and majestic heights, whose blue outlines, ranged all
around, close in the view.  The beautiful aspect of the shore is
heightened by deep and romantic glens, which come down to it at
almost equal distances, all apparently radiating from a common
centre, and the upper extremities of which are lost to the eye
beneath the shadow of the mountains.  Down each of these little
valleys flows a clear stream, here and there assuming the form of
a slender cascade, then stealing invisibly along until it bursts
upon the sight again in larger and more noisy waterfalls, and at
last demurely wanders along to the sea.

The houses of the natives, constructed of the yellow bamboo,
tastefully twisted together in a kind of wicker-work, and
thatched with the long tapering leaves of the palmetto, are
scattered irregularly along these valleys beneath the shady
branches of the cocoanut trees.

Nothing can exceed the imposing scenery of this bay.  Viewed from
our ship as she lay at anchor in the middle of the harbour, it
presented the appearance of a vast natural amphitheatre in decay,
and overgrown with vines, the deep glens that furrowed it's sides
appearing like enormous fissures caused by the ravages of time.  
Very often when lost in admiration at its beauty, I have
experienced a pang of regret that a scene so enchanting should be
hidden from the world in these remote seas, and seldom meet the
eyes of devoted lovers of nature.

Besides this bay the shores of the island are indented by several
other extensive inlets, into which descend broad and verdant
valleys.  These are inhabited by as many distinct tribes of
savages, who, although speaking kindred dialects of a common
language, and having the same religion and laws, have from time
immemorial waged hereditary warfare against each other.  The
intervening mountains generally two or three thousand feet above
the level of the sea geographically define the territories of
each of these hostile tribes, who never cross them, save on some
expedition of war or plunder.  Immediately adjacent to Nukuheva,
and only separated from it by the mountains seen from the
harbour, lies the lovely valley of Happar, whose inmates cherish
the most friendly relations with the inhabitants of Nukuheva.  On
the other side of Happar, and closely adjoining it, is the
magnificent valley of the dreaded Typees, the unappeasable
enemies of both these tribes.

These celebrated warriors appear to inspire the other islanders
with unspeakable terrors.  Their very name is a frightful one;
for the word 'Typee' in the Marquesan dialect signifies a lover
of human flesh.  It is rather singular that the title should have
been bestowed upon them exclusively, inasmuch as the natives of
all this group are irreclaimable cannibals.  The name may,
perhaps, have been given to denote the peculiar ferocity of this
clan, and to convey a special stigma along with it.

These same Typees enjoy a prodigious notoriety all over the
islands.  The natives of Nukuheva would frequently recount in
pantomime to our ship's company their terrible feats, and would
show the marks of wounds they had received in desperate
encounters with them.  When ashore they would try to frighten us
by pointing, to one of their own number, and calling him a Typee,
manifesting no little surprise that we did not take to our heels
at so terrible an announcement.  It was quite amusing, too, to
see with what earnestness they disclaimed all cannibal
propensities on their own part, while they denounced their
enemies--the Typees--as inveterate gourmandizers of human flesh;
but this is a peculiarity to which I shall hereafter have
occasion to allude.

Although I was convinced that the inhabitants of our bay were as
arrant cannibals as any of the other tribes on the island, still
I could not but feel a particular and most unqualified repugnance
to the aforesaid Typees.  Even before visiting the Marquesas, I
had heard from men who had touched at the group on former voyages
some revolting stories in connection with these savages; and
fresh in my remembrance was the adventure of the master of the
Katherine, who only a few months previous, imprudently venturing
into this bay in an armed boat for the purpose of barter, was
seized by the natives, carried back a little distance into their
valley, and was only saved from a cruel death by the intervention
of a young girl, who facilitated his escape by night along the
beach to Nukuheva.

I had heard too of an English vessel that many years ago, after a
weary cruise, sought to enter the bay of Nukuheva, and arriving
within two or three miles of the land, was met by a large canoe
filled with natives, who offered to lead the way to the place of
their destination.  The captain, unacquainted with the localities
of the island, joyfully acceded to the proposition--the canoe
paddled on, the ship followed.  She was soon conducted to a
beautiful inlet, and dropped her anchor in its waters beneath the
shadows of the lofty shore.  That same night the perfidious
Typees, who had thus inveigled her into their fatal bay, flocked
aboard the doomed vessel by hundreds, and at a given signal
murdered every soul on board.

I shall never forget the observation of one of our crew as we
were passing slowly by the entrance of the bay in our way to
Nukuheva.  As we stood gazing over the side at the verdant
headlands, Ned, pointing with his hand in the direction of the
treacherous valley, exclaimed, 'There--there's Typee.  Oh, the
bloody cannibals, what a meal they'd make of us if we were to
take it into our heads to land!  but they say they don't like
sailor's flesh, it's too salt.  I say, maty, how should you like
to be shoved ashore there, eh?'  I little thought, as I shuddered
at the question, that in the space of a few weeks I should
actually be a captive in that self-same valley.

The French, although they had gone through the ceremony of
hoisting their colours for a few hours at all the principal
places of the group, had not as yet visited the bay of Typee,
anticipating a fierce resistance on the part of the savages
there, which for the present at least they wished to avoid.  
Perhaps they were not a little influenced in the adoption of this
unusual policy from a recollection of the warlike reception given
by the Typees to the forces of Captain Porter, about the year
1814, when that brave and accomplished officer endeavoured to
subjugate the clan merely to gratify the mortal hatred of his
allies the Nukuhevas and Happars.

On that occasion I have been told that a considerable detachment
of sailors and marines from the frigate Essex, accompanied by at
least two thousand warriors of Happar and Nukuheva, landed in
boats and canoes at the head of the bay, and after penetrating a
little distance into the valley, met with the stoutest resistance
from its inmates.  Valiantly, although with much loss, the Typees
disputed every inch of ground, and after some hard fighting
obliged their assailants to retreat and abandon their design of
conquest.

The invaders, on their march back to the sea, consoled themselves
for their repulse by setting fire to every house and temple in
their route; and a long line of smoking ruins defaced the
once-smiling bosom of the valley, and proclaimed to its pagan
inhabitants the spirit that reigned in the breasts of Christian
soldiers.  Who can wonder at the deadly hatred of the Typees to
all foreigners after such unprovoked atrocities?

Thus it is that they whom we denominate 'savages' are made to
deserve the title.  When the inhabitants of some sequestered
island first descry the 'big canoe' of the European rolling
through the blue waters towards their shores, they rush down to
the beach in crowds, and with open arms stand ready to embrace
the strangers.  Fatal embrace!  They fold to their bosom the
vipers whose sting is destined to poison all their joys; and the
instinctive feeling of love within their breast is soon converted
into the bitterest hate.

The enormities perpetrated in the South Seas upon some of the
inoffensive islanders will nigh pass belief.  These things are
seldom proclaimed at home; they happen at the very ends of the
earth; they are done in a corner, and there are none to reveal
them.  But there is, nevertheless, many a petty trader that has
navigated the Pacific whose course from island to island might be
traced by a series of cold-blooded robberies, kidnappings, and
murders, the iniquity of which might be considered almost
sufficient to sink her guilty timbers to the bottom of the sea.

Sometimes vague accounts of such thing's reach our firesides, and
we coolly censure them as wrong, impolitic, needlessly severe,
and dangerous to the crews of other vessels.  How different is
our tone when we read the highly-wrought description of the
massacre of the crew of the Hobomak by the Feejees; how we
sympathize for the unhappy victims, and with what horror do we
regard the diabolical heathens, who, after all, have but avenged
the unprovoked injuries which they have received.  We breathe
nothing but vengeance, and equip armed vessels to traverse
thousands of miles of ocean in order to execute summary
punishment upon the offenders.  On arriving at their destination,
they burn, slaughter, and destroy, according to the tenor of
written instructions, and sailing away from the scene of
devastation, call upon all Christendom to applaud their courage
and their justice.

How often is the term 'savages' incorrectly applied!  None really
deserving of it were ever yet discovered by voyagers or by
travellers.  They have discovered heathens and barbarians whom by
horrible cruelties they have exasperated into savages.  It may be
asserted without fear of contradictions that in all the cases of
outrages committed by Polynesians, Europeans have at some time or
other been the aggressors, and that the cruel and bloodthirsty
disposition of some of the islanders is mainly to be ascribed to
the influence of such examples.

But to return.  Owing to the mutual hostilities of the different
tribes I have mentioned, the mountainous tracts which separate
their respective territories remain altogether uninhabited; the
natives invariably dwelling in the depths of the valleys, with a
view of securing themselves from the predatory incursions of
their enemies, who often lurk along their borders, ready to cut
off any imprudent straggler, or make a descent upon the inmates
of some sequestered habitation.  I several times met with very
aged men, who from this cause had never passed the confines of
their native vale, some of them having never even ascended midway
up the mountains in the whole course of their lives, and who,
accordingly had little idea of the appearance of any other part
of the island, the whole of which is not perhaps more than sixty
miles in circuit.  The little space in which some of these clans
pass away their days would seem almost incredible.

The glen of the Tior will furnish a curious illustration of this.

The inhabited part is not more than four miles in length, and
varies in breadth from half a mile to less than a quarter.  The
rocky vine-clad cliffs on one side tower almost perpendicularly
from their base to the height of at least fifteen hundred feet;
while across the vale--in striking contrast to the scenery
opposite--grass-grown elevations rise one above another in
blooming terraces.  Hemmed in by these stupendous barriers, the
valley would be altogether shut out from the rest of the world,
were it not that it is accessible from the sea at one end, and by
a narrow defile at the other.  

The impression produced upon the mind, when I first visited this
beautiful glen, will never be obliterated.

I had come from Nukuheva by water in the ship's boat, and when we
entered the bay of Tior it was high noon.  The heat had been
intense, as we had been floating upon the long smooth swell of
the ocean, for there was but little wind.  The sun's rays had
expended all their fury upon us; and to add to our discomfort, we
had omitted to supply ourselves with water previous to starting.  
What with heat and thirst together, I became so impatient to get
ashore, that when at last we glided towards it, I stood up in the
bow of the boat ready for a spring.  As she shot two-thirds of
her length high upon the beach, propelled by three or four strong
strokes of the oars, I leaped among a parcel of juvenile savages,
who stood prepared to give us a kind reception; and with them at
my heels, yelling like so many imps, I rushed forward across the
open ground in the vicinity of the sea, and plunged, diver
fashion, into the recesses of the first grove that offered.

What a delightful sensation did I experience!  I felt as if
floating in some new element, while all sort of gurgling,
trickling, liquid sounds fell upon my ear.  People may say what
they will about the refreshing influences of a coldwater bath,
but commend me when in a perspiration to the shade baths of Tior,
beneath the cocoanut trees, and amidst the cool delightful
atmosphere which surrounds them.

How shall I describe the scenery that met my eye, as I looked out
from this verdant recess!  The narrow valley, with its steep and
close adjoining sides draperied with vines, and arched overhead
with a fret-work of interlacing boughs, nearly hidden from view
by masses of leafy verdure, seemed from where I stood like an
immense arbour disclosing its vista to the eye, whilst as I
advanced it insensibly widened into the loveliest vale eye ever
beheld.

It so happened that the very day I was in Tior the French
admiral, attended by all the boats of his squadron, came down in
state from Nukuheva to take formal possession of the place.  He
remained in the valley about two hours, during which time he had
a ceremonious interview with the king.  The patriarch-sovereign
of Tior was a man very far advanced in years; but though age had
bowed his form and rendered him almost decrepid, his gigantic
frame retained its original magnitude and grandeur of appearance.

He advanced slowly and with evident pain, assisting his tottering
steps with the heavy warspear he held in his hand, and attended
by a group of grey-bearded chiefs, on one of whom he occasionally
leaned for support.  The admiral came forward with head uncovered
and extended hand, while the old king saluted him by a stately
flourish of his weapon.  The next moment they stood side by side,
these two extremes of the social scale,--the polished, splendid
Frenchman, and the poor tattooed savage.  They were both tall and
noble-looking men; but in other respects how strikingly
contrasted!  Du Petit Thouars exhibited upon his person all the
paraphernalia of his naval rank.  He wore a richly decorated
admiral's frock-coat, a laced chapeau bras, and upon his breast
were a variety of ribbons and orders; while the simple islander,
with the exception of a slight cincture about his loins, appeared
in all the nakedness of nature.

At what an immeasurable distance, thought I, are these two beings
removed from each other.  In the one is shown the result of long
centuries of progressive Civilization and refinement, which have
gradually converted the mere creature into the semblance of all
that is elevated and grand; while the other, after the lapse of
the same period, has not advanced one step in the career of
improvement, 'Yet, after all,' quoth I to myself, 'insensible as
he is to a thousand wants, and removed from harassing cares, may
not the savage be the happier man of the two?'  Such were the
thoughts that arose in my mind as I gazed upon the novel
spectacle before me.  In truth it was an impressive one, and
little likely to be effaced.  I can recall even now with vivid
distinctiness every feature of the scene.  The umbrageous shades
where the interview took place--the glorious tropical vegetation
around--the picturesque grouping of the mingled throng of
soldiery and natives--and even the golden-hued bunch of bananas
that I held in my hand at the time, and of which I occasionally
partook while making the aforesaid philosophical reflections.



CHAPTER FIVE

THOUGHTS PREVIOUS TO ATTEMPTING AN ESCAPE--TOBY, A FELLOW SAILOR,
AGREES TO SHARE THE ADVENTURE--LAST NIGHT ABOARD THE SHIP

HAVING fully resolved to leave the vessel clandestinely, and
having acquired all the knowledge concerning the bay that I could
obtain under the circumstances in which I was placed, I now
deliberately turned over in my mind every plan to escape that
suggested itself, being determined to act with all possible
prudence in an attempt where failure would be attended with so
many disagreeable consequences.  The idea of being taken and
brought back ignominiously to the ship was so inexpressibly
repulsive to me, that I was determined by no hasty and imprudent
measures to render such an event probable.

I knew that our worthy captain, who felt, such a paternal
solicitude for the welfare of his crew, would not willingly
consent that one of his best hands should encounter the perils of
a sojourn among the natives of a barbarous island; and I was
certain that in the event of my disappearance, his fatherly
anxiety would prompt him to offer, by way of a reward, yard upon
yard of gaily printed calico for my apprehension.  He might even
have appreciated my services at the value of a musket, in which
case I felt perfectly certain that the whole population of the
bay would be immediately upon my track, incited by the prospect
of so magnificent a bounty.

Having ascertained the fact before alluded to, that the
islanders,--from motives of precaution, dwelt altogether in the
depths of the valleys, and avoided wandering about the more
elevated portions of the shore, unless bound on some expedition
of war or plunder, I concluded that if I could effect unperceived
a passage to the mountain, I might easily remain among them,
supporting myself by such fruits as came in my way until the
sailing of the ship, an event of which I could not fail to be
immediately apprised, as from my lofty position I should command
a view of the entire harbour.

The idea pleased me greatly.  It seemed to combine a great deal
of practicability with no inconsiderable enjoyment in a quiet
way; for how delightful it would be to look down upon the
detested old vessel from the height of some thousand feet, and
contrast the verdant scenery about me with the recollection of
her narrow decks and gloomy forecastle!  Why, it was really
refreshing even to think of it; and so I straightway fell to
picturing myself seated beneath a cocoanut tree on the brow of
the mountain, with a cluster of plantains within easy reach,
criticizing her nautical evolutions as she was working her way
out of the harbour.

To be sure there was one rather unpleasant drawback to these
agreeable anticipations--the possibility of falling in with a
foraging party of these same bloody-minded Typees, whose
appetites, edged perhaps by the air of so elevated a region,
might prompt them to devour one.  This, I must confess, was a
most disagreeable view of the matter.

Just to think of a party of these unnatural gourmands taking it
into their heads to make a convivial meal of a poor devil, who
would have no means of escape or defence: however, there was no
help for it.  I was willing to encounter some risks in order to
accomplish my object, and counted much upon my ability to elude
these prowling cannibals amongst the many coverts which the
mountains afforded.  Besides, the chances were ten to one in my
favour that they would none of them quit their own fastnesses.

I had determined not to communicate my design of withdrawing from
the vessel to any of my shipmates, and least of all to solicit
any one to accompany me in my flight.  But it so happened one
night, that being upon deck, revolving over in my mind various
plans of escape, I perceived one of the ship's company leaning
over the bulwarks, apparently plunged in a profound reverie.  He
was a young fellow about my own age, for whom I had all along
entertained a great regard; and Toby, such was the name by which
he went among us, for his real name he would never tell us, was
every way worthy of it.  He was active, ready and obliging, of
dauntless courage, and singularly open and fearless in the
expression of his feelings.  I had on more than one occasion got
him out of scrapes into which this had led him; and I know not
whether it was from this cause, or a certain congeniality of
sentiment between us, that he had always shown a partiality for
my society.  We had battled out many a long watch together,
beguiling the weary hours with chat, song, and story, mingled
with a good many imprecations upon the hard destiny it seemed our
common fortune to encounter.

Toby, like myself, had evidently moved in a different sphere of
life, and his conversation at times betrayed this, although he
was anxious to conceal it.  He was one of that class of rovers
you sometimes meet at sea, who never reveal their origin, never
allude to home, and go rambling over the world as if pursued by
some mysterious fate they cannot possibly elude.

There was much even in the appearance of Toby calculated to draw
me towards him, for while the greater part of the crew were as
coarse in person as in mind, Toby was endowed with a remarkably
prepossessing exterior.  Arrayed in his blue frock and duck
trousers, he was as smart a looking sailor as ever stepped upon a
deck; he was singularly small and slightly made, with great
flexibility of limb.  His naturally dark complexion had been
deepened by exposure to the tropical sun, and a mass of jetty
locks clustered about his temples, and threw a darker shade into
his large black eyes.  He was a strange wayward being, moody,
fitful, and melancholy--at times almost morose.  He had a quick
and fiery temper too, which, when thoroughly roused, transported
him into a state bordering on delirium.

It is strange the power that a mind of deep passion has over
feebler natures.  I have seen a brawny, fellow, with no lack of
ordinary courage, fairly quail before this slender stripling,
when in one of his curious fits.  But these paroxysms seldom
occurred, and in them my big-hearted shipmate vented the bile
which more calm-tempered individuals get rid of by a continual
pettishness at trivial annoyances.

No one ever saw Toby laugh.  I mean in the hearty abandonment of
broad-mouthed mirth.  He did smile sometimes, it is true; and
there was a good deal of dry, sarcastic humour about him, which
told the more from the imperturbable gravity of his tone and
manner.

Latterly I had observed that Toby's melancholy had greatly
increased, and I had frequently seen him since our arrival at the
island gazing wistfully upon the shore, when the remainder of the
crew would be rioting below.  I was aware that he entertained a
cordial detestation of the ship, and believed that, should a fair
chance of escape present itself, he would embrace it willingly.

But the attempt was so perilous in the place where we then lay,
that I supposed myself the only individual on board the ship who
was sufficiently reckless to think of it.  In this, however, I
was mistaken.

When I perceived Toby leaning, as I have mentioned, against the
bulwarks and buried in thought, it struck me at once that the
subject of his meditations might be the same as my own.  And if
it be so, thought I, is he not the very one of all my shipmates
whom I would choose: for the partner of my adventure?  and why
should I not have some comrade with me to divide its dangers and
alleviate its hardships?  Perhaps I might be obliged to lie
concealed among the mountains for weeks.  In such an event what a
solace would a companion be?

These thoughts passed rapidly through my mind, and I wondered why
I had not before considered the matter in this light.  But it was
not too late.  A tap upon the shoulder served to rouse Toby from
his reverie; I found him ripe for the enterprise, and a very few
words sufficed for a mutual understanding between us.  In an
hour's time we had arranged all the preliminaries, and decided
upon our plan of action.  We then ratified our engagement with an
affectionate wedding of palms, and to elude suspicion repaired
each to his hammock, to spend the last night on board the Dolly.

The next day the starboard watch, to which we both belonged, was
to be sent ashore on liberty; and, availing ourselves of this
opportunity, we determined, as soon after landing as possible, to
separate ourselves from the rest of the men without exciting
their suspicions, and strike back at once for the mountains.  
Seen from the ship, their summits appeared inaccessible, but here
and there sloping spurs extended from them almost into the sea,
buttressing the lofty elevations with which they were connected,
and forming those radiating valleys I have before described.  One
of these ridges, which appeared more practicable than the rest,
we determined to climb, convinced that it would conduct us to the
heights beyond.  Accordingly, we carefully observed its bearings
and locality from the ship, so that when ashore we should run no
chance of missing it.

In all this the leading object we had in view was to seclude
ourselves from sight until the departure of the vessel; then to
take our chance as to the reception the Nukuheva natives might
give us; and after remaining upon the island as long as we found
our stay agreeable, to leave it the first favourable opportunity
that offered.



CHAPTER SIX

A SPECIMEN OF NAUTICAL ORATORY--CRITICISMS OF THE SAILORS--THE
STARBOARD WATCH ARE GIVEN A HOLIDAY--THE ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS

EARLY the next morning the starboard watch were mustered upon the
quarter-deck, and our worthy captain, standing in the cabin
gangway, harangued us as follows:--

'Now, men, as we are just off a six months' cruise, and have got
through most all our work in port here, I suppose you want to go
ashore.  Well, I mean to give your watch liberty today, so you
may get ready as soon all you please, and go; but understand
this, I am going to give you liberty because I suppose you would
growl like so many old quarter gunners if I didn't; at the same
time, if you'll take my advice, every mother's son of you will
stay aboard and keep out of the way of the bloody cannibals
altogether.  Ten to one, men, if you go ashore, you will get into
some infernal row, and that will be the end of you; for if those
tattooed scoundrels get you a little ways back into their
valleys, they'll nab you--that you may be certain of.  Plenty of
white men have gone ashore here and never been seen any more.  
There was the old Dido, she put in here about two years ago, and
sent one watch off on liberty; they never were heard of again for
a week--the natives swore they didn't know where they were--and
only three of them ever got back to the ship again, and one with
his face damaged for life, for the cursed heathens tattooed a
broad patch clean across his figure-head.  But it will be no use
talking to you, for go you will, that I see plainly; so all I
have to say is, that you need not blame me if the islanders make
a meal of you.  You may stand some chance of escaping them
though, if you keep close about the French encampment,--and are
back to the ship again before sunset.  Keep that much in your
mind, if you forget all the rest I've been saying to you.  There,
go forward: bear a hand and rig yourselves, and stand by for a
call.  At two bells the boat will be manned to take you off, and
the Lord have mercy on you!'

Various were the emotions depicted upon the countenances of the
starboard watch whilst listening to this address; but on its
conclusion there was a general move towards the forecastle, and
we soon were all busily engaged in getting ready for the holiday
so auspiciously announced by the skipper.  During these
preparations his harangue was commented upon in no very measured
terms; and one of the party, after denouncing him as a lying old
son of a seacook who begrudged a fellow a few hours' liberty,
exclaimed with an oath, 'But you don't bounce me out of my
liberty, old chap, for all your yarns; for I would go ashore if
every pebble on the beach was a live coal, and every stick a
gridiron, and the cannibals stood ready to broil me on landing.'

The spirit of this sentiment was responded to by all hands, and
we resolved that in spite of the captain's croakings we would
make a glorious day of it.

But Toby and I had our own game to play, and we availed ourselves
of the confusion which always reigns among a ship's company
preparatory to going ashore, to confer together and complete our
arrangements.  As our object was to effect as rapid a flight as
possible to the mountains, we determined not to encumber
ourselves with any superfluous apparel; and accordingly, while
the rest were rigging themselves out with some idea of making a
display, we were content to put on new stout duck trousers,
serviceable pumps, and heavy Havre-frocks, which with a Payta hat
completed our equipment.

When our shipmates wondered at this, Toby exclaimed in his odd
grave way that the rest might do, as they liked, but that he for
one preserved his go-ashore traps for the Spanish main, where the
tie of a sailor's neckerchief might make some difference; but as
for a parcel of unbreeched heathen, he wouldn't go to the bottom
of his chest for any of them, and was half disposed to appear
among them in buff himself.  The men laughed at what they thought
was one of his strange conceits, and so we escaped suspicion.

It may appear singular that we should have been thus on our guard
with our own shipmates; but there were some among us who, had
they possessed the least inkling of our project, would, for a
paltry hope of reward, have immediately communicated it to the
captain.

As soon as two bells were struck, the word was passed for the
liberty-men to get into the boat.  I lingered behind in the
forecastle a moment to take a parting glance at its familiar
features, and just as I was about to ascend to the deck my eye
happened to light on the bread-barge and beef-kid, which
contained the remnants of our last hasty meal.  Although I had
never before thought of providing anything in the way of food for
our expedition, as I fully relied upon the fruits of the island
to sustain us wherever we might wander, yet I could not resist
the inclination I felt to provide luncheon from the relics before
me.  Accordingly I took a double handful of those small, broken,
flinty bits of biscuit which generally go by the name of
'midshipmen's nuts', and thrust them into the bosom of my frock
in which same simple receptacle I had previously stowed away
several pounds of tobacco and a few yards of cotton
cloth--articles with which I intended to purchase the good-will
of the natives, as soon as we should appear among them after the
departure of our vessel.

This last addition to my stock caused a considerable protuberance
in front, which I abated in a measure by shaking the bits of
bread around my waist, and distributing the plugs of tobacco
among the folds of the garment.  Hardly had I completed these
arrangements when my name was sung out by a dozen voices, and I
sprung upon the deck, where I found all the party in the boat,
and impatient to shove off.  I dropped over the side and seated
myself with the rest of the watch in the stem sheets, while the
poor larboarders shipped their oars, and commenced pulling us
ashore.  This happened to be the rainy season at the islands, and
the heavens had nearly the whole morning betokened one of those
heavy showers which during this period so frequently occur.  The
large drops fell bubbling into the water shortly after our
leaving the ship, and by the time we had affected a landing it
poured down in torrents.  We fled for shelter under cover of an
immense canoe-house which stood hard by the beach, and waited for
the first fury of the storm to pass.

It continued, however, without cessation; and the monotonous
beating of the rain over head began to exert a drowsy influence
upon the men, who, throwing themselves here and there upon the
large war-canoes, after chatting awhile, all fell asleep.

This was the opportunity we desired, and Toby and I availed
ourselves of it at once by stealing out of the canoe-house and
plunging into the depths of an extensive grove that was in its
rear.  After ten minutes' rapid progress we gained an open space
from which we could just descry the ridge we intended to mount
looming dimly through the mists of the tropical shower, and
distant from us, as we estimated, something more than a mile.  
Our direct course towards it lay through a rather populous part
of the bay; but desirous as we were of evading the natives and
securing an unmolested retreat to the mountains, we determined,
by taking a circuit through some extensive thickets, to avoid
their vicinity altogether.

The heavy rain that still continued to fall without intermission
favoured our enterprise, as it drove the islanders into their
houses, and prevented any casual meeting with them.  Our heavy
frocks soon became completely saturated with water, and by their
weight, and that of the articles we had concealed beneath them,
not a little impeded our progress.  But it was no time to pause
when at any moment we might be surprised by a body of the
savages, and forced at the very outset to relinquish our
undertaking.

Since leaving the canoe-house we had scarcely exchanged a single
syllable with one another; but when we entered a second narrow
opening in the wood, and again caught sight of the ridge before
us, I took Toby by the arm, and pointing along its sloping
outline to the lofty heights at its extremity, said in a low
tone, 'Now, Toby, not a word, nor a glance backward, till we
stand on the summit of yonder mountain--so no more lingering but
let us shove ahead while we can, and in a few hours' time we may
laugh aloud.  You are the lightest and.the nimblest, so lead on,
and I will follow.'

'All right, brother,' said Toby, 'quick's our play; only lets
keep close together, that's all;' and so saying with a bound like
a young roe, he cleared a brook which ran across our path, and
rushed forward with a quick step.

When we arrived within a short distance of the ridge, we were
stopped by a mass of tall yellow reeds, growing together as
thickly as they could stand, and as tough and stubborn as so many
rods of steel; and we perceived, to our chagrin, that they
extended midway up the elevation we proposed to ascend.

For a moment we gazed about us in quest of a more practicable
route; it was, however, at once apparent that there was no
resource but to pierce this thicket of canes at all hazards.  We
now reversed our order of march, I, being the heaviest, taking
the lead, with a view of breaking a path through the obstruction,
while Toby fell into the rear.

Two or three times I endeavoured to insinuate myself between the
canes, and by dint of coaxing and bending them to make some
progress; but a bull-frog might as well have tried to work a
passage through the teeth of a comb, and I gave up the attempt in
despair.

Half wild with meeting an obstacle we had so little anticipated,
I threw myself desperately against it, crushing to the ground the
canes with which I came in contact, and, rising to my feet again,
repeated the action with like effect.  Twenty minutes of this
violent exercise almost exhausted me, but it carried us some way
into the thicket; when Toby, who had been reaping the benefit of
my labours by following close at my heels, proposed to become
pioneer in turn, and accordingly passed ahead with a view of
affording me a respite from my exertions.  As however with his
slight frame he made but bad work of it, I was soon obliged to
resume my old place again.  On we toiled, the perspiration
starting from our bodies in floods, our limbs torn and lacerated
with the splintered fragments of the broken canes, until we had
proceeded perhaps as far as the middle of the brake, when
suddenly it ceased raining, and the atmosphere around us became
close and sultry beyond expression.  The elasticity of the reeds
quickly recovering from the temporary pressure of our bodies,
caused them to spring back to their original position; so that
they closed in upon us as we advanced, and prevented the
circulation of little air which might otherwise have reached us.  
Besides this, their great height completely shut us out from the
view of surrounding objects, and we were not certain but that we
might have been going all the time in a wrong direction.

Fatigued with my long-continued efforts, and panting for breath,
I felt myself completely incapacitated for any further exertion.  
I rolled up the sleeve of my frock, and squeezed the moisture it
contained into my parched mouth.  But the few drops I managed to
obtain gave me little relief, and I sank down for a moment with a
sort of dogged apathy, from which I was aroused by Toby, who had
devised a plan to free us from the net in which we had become
entangled.

He was laying about him lustily with his sheath-knive, lopping
the canes right and left, like a reaper, and soon made quite a
clearing around us.  This sight reanimated me; and seizing my own
knife, I hacked and hewed away without mercy.  But alas!  the
farther we advanced the thicker and taller, and apparently the
more interminable, the reeds became.

I began to think we were fairly snared, and had almost made up my
mind that without a pair of wings we should never be able to
escape from the toils; when all at once I discerned a peep of
daylight through the canes on my right, and, communicating the
joyful tidings to Toby, we both fell to with fresh spirit, and
speedily opening the passage towards it we found ourselves clear
of perplexities, and in the near vicinity of the ridge.  After
resting for a few moments we began the ascent, and after a little
vigorous climbing found ourselves close to its summit.  Instead
however of walking along its ridge, where we should have been in
full view of the natives in the vales beneath, and at a point
where they could easily intercept us were they so inclined, we
cautiously advanced on one side, crawling on our hands and knees,
and screened from observation by the grass through which we
glided, much in the fashion of a couple of serpents.  After an
hour employed in this unpleasant kind of locomotion, we started
to our feet again and pursued our way boldly along the crest of
the ridge.

This salient spur of the lofty elevations that encompassed the
bay rose with a sharp angle from the valleys at its base, and
presented, with the exception of a few steep acclivities, the
appearance of a vast inclined plane, sweeping down towards the
sea from the heights in the distance.  We had ascended it near
the place of its termination and at its lowest point, and now saw
our route to the mountains distinctly defined along its narrow
crest, which was covered with a soft carpet of verdure, and was
in many parts only a few feet wide.

Elated with the success which had so far attended our enterprise,
and invigorated by the refreshing atmosphere we now inhaled, Toby
and I in high spirits were making our way rapidly along the
ridge, when suddenly from the valleys below which lay on either
side of us we heard the distant shouts of the natives, who had
just descried us, and to whom our figures, brought in bold relief
against the sky, were plainly revealed.

Glancing our eyes into these valleys, we perceived their savage
inhabitants hurrying to and fro, seemingly under the influence of
some sudden alarm, and appearing to the eye scarcely bigger than
so many pigmies; while their white thatched dwellings, dwarfed by
the distance, looked like baby-houses.  As we looked down upon
the islanders from our lofty elevation, we experienced a sense of
security; feeling confident that, should they undertake a
pursuit, it would, from the start we now had, prove entirely
fruitless, unless they followed us into the mountains, where we
knew they cared not to venture.

However, we thought it as well to make the most of our time; and
accordingly, where the ground would admit of it, we ran swiftly
along the summit of the ridge, until we were brought to a stand
by a steep cliff, which at first seemed to interpose an effectual
barrier to our farther advance.  By dint of much hard scrambling
however, and at some risk to our necks, we at last surmounted it,
and continued our fight with unabated celerity.

We had left the beach early in the morning, and after an
uninterrupted, though at times difficult and dangerous ascent,
during which we had never once turned our faces to the sea, we
found ourselves, about three hours before sunset, standing on the
top of what seemed to be the highest land on the island, an
immense overhanging cliff composed of basaltic rocks, hung round
with parasitical plants.  We must have been more than three
thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the scenery viewed
from this height was magnificent.

The lonely bay of Nukuheva, dotted here and there with the black
hulls of the vessels composing the French squadron, lay reposing
at the base of a circular range of elevations, whose verdant
sides, perforated with deep glens or diversified with smiling
valleys, formed altogether the loveliest view I ever beheld, and
were I to live a hundred years, I shall never forget the feeling
of admiration which I then experienced.



CHAPTER SEVEN

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN--DISAPPOINTMENT--INVENTORY OF
ARTICLES BROUGHT FROM THE SHIP--DIVISION OF THE STOCK OF
BREAD--APPEARANCE OF THE INTERIOR OF THE ISLAND--A DISCOVERY--A
RAVINE AND WATERFALLS--A SLEEPLESS NIGHT--FURTHER DISCOVERIES--MY
ILLNESS--A MARQUESAN LANDSCAPE

MY curiosity had been not a little raised with regard to the
description of country we should meet on the other side of the
mountains; and I had supposed, with Toby, that immediately on
gaining the heights we should be enabled to view the large bays
of Happar and Typee reposing at our feet on one side, in the same
way that Nukuheva lay spread out below on the other.  But here we
were disappointed.  Instead of finding the mountain we had
ascended sweeping down in the opposite direction into broad and
capacious valleys, the land appeared to retain its general
elevation, only broken into a series of ridges and inter-vales
which so far as the eye could reach stretched away from us, with
their precipitous sides covered with the brightest verdure, and
waving here and there with the foliage of clumps of woodland;
among which, however, we perceived none of those trees upon whose
fruit we had relied with such certainty.

This was a most unlooked-for discovery, and one that promised to
defeat our plans altogether, for we could not think of descending
the mountain on the Nukuheva side in quest of food.  Should we
for this purpose be induced to retrace our steps, we should run
no small chance of encountering the natives, who in that case, if
they did nothing worse to us, would be certain to convey us back
to the ship for the sake of the reward in calico and trinkets,
which we had no doubt our skipper would hold out to them as an
inducement to our capture.

What was to be done?  The Dolly would not sail perhaps for ten
days, and how were we to sustain life during this period?  I
bitterly repented our improvidence in not providing ourselves, as
we easily might have done, with a supply of biscuits.  With a
rueful visage I now bethought me of the scanty handful of bread I
had stuffed into the bosom of my frock, and felt somewhat
desirous to ascertain what part of it had weathered the rather
rough usage it had experienced in ascending the mountain.  I
accordingly proposed to Toby that we should enter into a joint
examination of the various articles we had brought from the ship.

With this intent we seated ourselves upon the grass; and a little
curious to see with what kind of judgement my companion had
filled his frock--which I remarked seemed about as well lined as
my own--I requested him to commence operations by spreading out
its contents.

Thrusting his hand, then, into the bosom of this capacious
receptacle, he first brought to light about a pound of tobacco,
whose component parts still adhered together, the whole outside
being covered with soft particles of sea-bread.  Wet and
dripping, it had the appearance of having been just recovered
from the bottom of the sea.  But I paid slight attention to a
substance of so little value to us in our present situation, as
soon as I perceived the indications it gave of Toby's foresight
in laying in a supply of food for the expedition.

I eagerly inquired what quantity he had brought with him, when
rummaging once more beneath his garment, he produced a small
handful of something so soft, pulpy, and discoloured, that for a
few moments he was as much puzzled as myself to tell by what
possible instrumentality such a villainous compound had become
engendered in his bosom.  I can only describe it as a hash of
soaked bread and bits of tobacco, brought to a doughy consistency
by the united agency of perspiration and rain.  But repulsive as
it might otherwise have been, I now regarded it as an invaluable
treasure, and proceeded with great care to transfer this
paste-like mass to a large leaf which I had plucked from a bush
beside me.  Toby informed me that in the morning he had placed
two whole biscuits in his bosom, with a view of munching them,
should he feel so inclined, during our flight.  These were now
reduced to the equivocal substance which I had just placed on the
leaf.

Another dive into the frock brought to view some four or five
yards of calico print, whose tasteful pattern was rather
disfigured by the yellow stains of the tobacco with which it had
been brought in contact.  In drawing this calico slowly from his
bosom inch by inch, Toby reminded me of a juggler performing the
feat of the endless ribbon.  The next cast was a small one, being
a sailor's little 'ditty bag', containing needles, thread, and
other sewing utensils, then came a razor-case, followed by two or
three separate plugs of negro-head, which were fished up from the
bottom of the now empty receptacle.  These various matters, being
inspected, I produced the few things which I had myself brought.

As might have been anticipated from the state of my companion's
edible supplies, I found my own in a deplorable condition, and
diminished to a quantity that would not have formed half a dozen
mouthfuls for a hungry man who was partial enough to tobacco not
to mind swallowing it.  A few morsels of bread, with a fathom or
two of white cotton cloth, and several pounds of choice pigtail,
composed the extent of my possessions.

Our joint stock of miscellaneous articles were now made up into a
compact bundle, which it was agreed we should carry alternately.  
But the sorry remains of the biscuit were not to be disposed of
so summarily: the precarious circumstances in which we were
placed made us regard them as something on which very probably,
depended the fate of our adventure.  After a brief discussion, in
which we both of us expressed our resolution of not descending
into the bay until the ship's departure, I suggested to my
companion that little of it as there was, we should divide the
bread into six equal portions, each of which should be a day's
allowance for both of us.  This proposition he assented to; so I
took the silk kerchief from my neck, and cutting it with my knife
into half a dozen equal pieces, proceeded to make an exact
division.

At first, Toby with a degree of fastidiousness that seemed to me
ill-timed, was for picking out the minute particles of tobacco
with which the spongy mass was mixed; but against this proceeding
I protested, as by such an operation we must have greatly
diminished its quantity.

When the division was accomplished, we found that a day's
allowance for the two was not a great deal more than what a
table-spoon might hold.  Each separate portion we immediately
rolled up in the bit of silk prepared for it, and joining them
all together into a small package, I committed them, with solemn
injunctions of fidelity, to the custody of Toby.  For the
remainder of that day we resolved to fast, as we had been
fortified by a breakfast in the morning; and now starting again
to our feet, we looked about us for a shelter during the night,
which, from the appearance of the heavens, promised to be a dark
and tempestuous one.

There was no place near us which would in any way answer our
purpose, so turning our backs upon Nukuheva, we commenced
exploring the unknown regions which lay upon the other side of
the mountain.

In this direction, as far as our vision extended, not a sign of
life, nor anything that denoted even the transient residence of
man, could be seen.  The whole landscape seemed one unbroken
solitude, the interior of the island having apparently been
untenanted since the morning of the creation; and as we advanced
through this wilderness, our voices sounded strangely in our
ears, as though human accents had never before disturbed the
fearful silence of the place, interrupted only by the low
murmurings of distant waterfalls.

Our disappointment, however, in not finding the various fruits
with which we had intended to regale ourselves during our stay in
these wilds, was a good deal lessened by the consideration that
from this very circumstance we should be much less exposed to a
casual meeting with the savage tribes about us, who we knew
always dwelt beneath the shadows of those trees which supplied
them with food.

We wandered along, casting eager glances into every bush we
passed, until just as we had succeeded in mounting one of the
many ridges that intersected the ground, I saw in the grass
before me something like an indistinctly traced footpath, which
appeared to lead along the top of the ridge, and to descend--with
it into a deep ravine about half a mile in advance of us.

Robinson Crusoe could not have been more startled at the
footprint in the sand than we were at this unwelcome discovery.  
My first impulse was to make as rapid a retreat as possible, and
bend our steps in some other direction; but our curiosity to see
whither this path might lead, prompted us to pursue it.  So on we
went, the track becoming more and more visible the farther we
proceeded, until it conducted us to the verge of the ravine,
where it abruptly terminated.

'And so,' said Toby, peering down into the chasm, 'everyone that
travels this path takes a jump here, eh?'

'Not so,' said I, 'for I think they might manage to descend
without it; what say you,--shall we attempt the feat?'

'And what, in the name of caves and coal-holes, do you expect to
find at the bottom of that gulf but a broken neck--why it looks
blacker than our ship's hold, and the roar of those waterfalls
down there would batter one's brains to pieces.'

'Oh, no, Toby,' I exclaimed, laughing; 'but there's something to
be seen here, that's plain, or there would have been no path, and
I am resolved to find out what it is.'

'I will tell you what, my pleasant fellow,' rejoined Toby
quickly, 'if you are going to pry into everything you meet with
here that excites your curiosity, you will marvellously soon get
knocked on the head; to a dead certainty you will come bang upon
a party of these savages in the midst of your discovery-makings,
and I doubt whether such an event would particularly delight you,
just take my advice for once, and let us 'bout ship and steer in
some other direction; besides, it's getting late and we ought to
be mooring ourselves for the night.'

'That is just the thing I have been driving at,' replied I; 'and
I am thinking that this ravine will exactly answer our purpose,
for it is roomy, secluded, well watered, and may shelter us from
the weather.'

'Aye, and from sleep too, and by the same token will give us sore
throats, and rheumatisms into the bargain,' cried Toby, with
evident dislike at the idea.

'Oh, very well then, my lad,' said I, 'since you will not
accompany me, here I go alone.  You will see me in the morning;'
and advancing to the edge of the cliff upon which we had been
standing, I proceeded to lower myself down by the tangled roots
which clustered about all the crevices of the rock.  As I had
anticipated, Toby, in spite of his previous remonstrances,
followed my example, and dropping himself with the activity of a
squirrel from point to point, he quickly outstripped me and
effected a landing at the bottom before I had accomplished
two-thirds of the descent.

The sight that now greeted us was one that will ever be vividly
impressed upon my mind.  Five foaming streams, rushing through as
many gorges, and swelled and turbid by the recent rains, united
together in one mad plunge of nearly eighty feet, and fell with
wild uproar into a deep black pool scooped out of the gloomy
looking rocks that lay piled around, and thence in one collected
body dashed down a narrow sloping channel which seemed to
penetrate into the very bowels of the earth.  Overhead, vast
roots of trees hung down from the sides of the ravine dripping
with moisture, and trembling with the concussions produced by the
fall.  It was now sunset, and the feeble uncertain light that
found its way into these caverns and woody depths heightened
their strange appearance, and reminded us that in a short time we
should find ourselves in utter darkness.

As soon as I had satisfied my curiosity by gazing at this scene,
I fell to wondering how it was that what we had taken for a path
should have conducted us.to so singular a place, and began to
suspect that after all I might have been deceived in supposing it
to have been a trick formed by the islanders.  This was rather an
agreeable reflection than otherwise, for it diminished our dread
of accidentally meeting with any of them, and I came to the
conclusion that perhaps we could not have selected a more secure
hiding-place than this very spot we had so accidentally hit upon.

Toby agreed with me in this view of the matter, and we
immediately began gathering together the limbs of trees which lay
scattered about, with the view of constructing a temporary hut
for the night.  This we were obliged to build close to the foot
of the cataract, for the current of water extended very nearly to
the sides of the gorge.  The few moments of light that remained
we employed in covering our hut with a species of broad-bladed
grass that grew in every fissure of the ravine.  Our hut, if it
deserved to be called one, consisted of six or eight of the
straightest branches we could find laid obliquely against the
steep wall of rock, with their lower ends within a foot of the
stream.  Into the space thus covered over we managed to crawl,
and dispose our wearied bodies as best we could.

Shall I ever forget that horrid night!  As for poor Toby, I could
scarcely get a word out of him.  It would have been some
consolation to have heard his voice, but he lay shivering the
live-long night like a man afflicted with the palsy, with his
knees drawn up to his head, while his back was supported against
the dripping side of the rock.  During this wretched night there
seemed nothing wanting to complete the perfect misery of our
condition.  The rain descended in such torrents that our poor
shelter proved a mere mockery.  In vain did I try to elude the
incessant streams that poured upon me; by protecting one part I
only exposed another, and the water was continually finding some
new opening through which to drench us.

I have had many a ducking in the course of my life, and in
general cared little about it; but the accumulated horrors of
that night, the deathlike coldness of the place, the appalling
darkness and the dismal sense of our forlorn condition, almost
unmanned me.

It will not be doubted that the next morning we were early
risers, and as soon as I could catch the faintest glimpse of
anything like daylight I shook my companion by the arm, and told
him it was sunrise.  Poor Toby lifted up his head, and after a
moment's pause said, in a husky voice, 'Then, shipmate, my
toplights have gone out, for it appears darker now with my eyes
open that it did when they were shut.'

'Nonsense!' exclaimed I; 'You are not awake yet.'

'Awake!' roared Toby in a rage, 'awake!  You mean to insinuate
I've been asleep, do you?  It is an insult to a man to suppose he
could sleep in such an infernal place as this.'

By the time I had apologized to my friend for having misconstrued
his silence, it had become somewhat more light, and we crawled
out of our lair.  The rain had ceased, but everything around us
was dripping with moisture.  We stripped off our saturated
garments, and wrung them as dry as we could.  We contrived to
make the blood circulate in our benumbed limbs by rubbing them
vigorously with our hands; and after performing our ablutions in
the stream, and putting on our still wet clothes, we began to
think it advisable to break our long fast, it being now
twenty-four hours since we had tasted food.

Accordingly our day's ration was brought out, and seating
ourselves on a detached fragment of rock, we proceeded to discuss
it.  First we divided it into two equal portions, and carefully
rolling one of them up for our evening's repast, divided the
remainder again as equally as possible, and then drew lots for
the first choice.  I could have placed the morsel that fell to my
share upon the tip of my finger; but notwithstanding this I took
care that it should be full ten minutes before I had swallowed
the last crumb.  What a true saying it is that 'appetite
furnishes the best sauce.'  There was a flavour and a relish to
this small particle of food that under other circumstances it
would have been impossible for the most delicate viands to have
imparted.  A copious draught of the pure water which flowed at
our feet served to complete the meal, and after it we rose
sensibly refreshed, and prepared for whatever might befall us.

We now carefully examined the chasm in which we had passed the
night.  We crossed the stream, and gaining the further side of
the pool I have mentioned, discovered proofs that the spot must
have been visited by some one but a short time previous to our
arrival.  Further observation convinced us that it had been
regularly frequented, and, as we afterwards conjectured from
particular indications, for the purpose of obtaining a certain
root, from which the natives obtained a kind of ointment.

These discoveries immediately determined us to abandon a place
which had presented no inducement for us to remain, except the
promise of security; and as we looked about us for the means of
ascending again into the upper regions, we at last found a
practicable part of the rock, and half an hour's toil carried us
to the summit of the same cliff from which the preceding evening
we had descended.

I now proposed to Toby that instead of rambling about the island,
exposing ourselves to discovery at every turn, we should select
some place as our fixed abode for as long a period as our food
should hold out, build ourselves a comfortable hut, and be as
prudent and circumspect as possible.  To all this my companion
assented, and we at once set about carrying the plan into
execution.

With this view, after exploring without success a little glen
near us, we crossed several of the ridges of which I have before
spoken; and about noon found ourselves ascending a long and
gradually rising slope, but still without having discovered any
place adapted to our purpose.  Low and heavy clouds betokened an
approaching storm, and we hurried on to gain a covert in a clump
of thick bushes, which appeared to terminate the long ascent.  We
threw ourselves under the lee of these bushes, and pulling up the
long grass that grew around, covered ourselves completely with
it, and awaited the shower.

But it did not come as soon as we had expected, and before many
minutes my companion was fast asleep, and I was rapidly falling
into the same state of happy forgetfulness.  Just at this
juncture, however, down came the rain with the violence that put
all thoughts of slumber to flight.  Although in some measure
sheltered, our clothes soon became as wet as ever; this, after
all the trouble we had taken to dry them, was provoking enough:
but there was no help for it; and I recommend all adventurous
youths who abandon vessels in romantic islands during the rainy
season to provide themselves with umbrellas.

After an hour or so the shower passed away.  My companion slept
through it all, or at least appeared so to do; and now that it
was over I had not the heart to awaken him.  As I lay on my back
completely shrouded with verdure, the leafy branches drooping
over me, my limbs buried in grass, I could not avoid comparing
our situation with that of the interesting babes in the wood.  
Poor little sufferers!--no wonder their constitutions broke down
under the hardships to which they were exposed.

During the hour or two spent under the shelter of these bushes, I
began to feel symptoms which I at once attributed to the exposure
of the preceding night.  Cold shiverings and a burning fever
succeeded one another at intervals, while one of my legs was
swelled to such a degree, and pained me so acutely, that I half
suspected I had been bitten by some venomous reptile, the
congenial inhabitant of the chasm from which we had lately
emerged.  I may here remark by the way--what I subsequently
gleamed--that all the islands of Polynesia enjoy the reputation,
in common with the Hibernian isle, of being free from the
presence of any vipers; though whether Saint Patrick ever visited
them, is a question I shall not attempt to decide.

As the feverish sensation increased upon me I tossed about, still
unwilling to disturb my slumbering companion, from whose side I
removed two or three yards.  I chanced to push aside a branch,
and by so doing suddenly disclosed to my view a scene which even
now I can recall with all the vividness of the first impression.  
Had a glimpse of the gardens of Paradise been revealed to me, I
could scarcely have been more ravished with the sight.

From the spot where I lay transfixed with surprise and delight, I
looked straight down into the bosom of a valley, which swept away
in long wavy undulations to the blue waters in the distance.  
Midway towards the sea, and peering here and there amidst the
foliage, might be seen the palmetto-thatched houses of its
inhabitants glistening in the sun that had bleached them to a
dazzling whiteness.  The vale was more than three leagues in
length, and about a mile across at its greatest width.

On either side it appeared hemmed in by steep and green
acclivities, which, uniting near the spot where I lay, formed an
abrupt and semicircular termination of grassy cliffs and
precipices hundreds of feet in height, over which flowed
numberless small cascades.  But the crowning beauty of the
prospect was its universal verdure; and in this indeed consists,
I believe, the peculiar charm of every Polynesian landscape.  
Everywhere below me, from the base of the precipice upon whose
very verge I had been unconsciously reposing, the surface of the
vale presented a mass of foliage, spread with such rich profusion
that it was impossible to determine of what description of trees
it consisted.

But perhaps there was nothing about the scenery I beheld more
impressive than those silent cascades, whose slender threads of
water, after leaping down the steep cliffs, were lost amidst the
rich herbage of the valley.

Over all the landscape there reigned the most hushed repose,
which I almost feared to break, lest, like the enchanted gardens
in the fairy tale, a single syllable might dissolve the spell.  
For a long time, forgetful alike of my own situation, and the
vicinity of my still slumbering companion, I remained gazing
around me, hardly able to comprehend by what means I had thus
suddenly been made a spectator of such a scene.



CHAPTER EIGHT

THE IMPORTANT QUESTION, TYPEE OR HAPPAR?--A WILD GOOSE CHASE--MY
SUFFERINGS--DISHEARTENING SITUATION--A NIGHT IN A RAVINE--MORNING
MEAL--HAPPY IDEA OF TOBY--JOURNEY TOWARDS THE VALLEY

RECOVERING from my astonishment at the beautiful scene before me,
I quickly awakened Toby, and informed him of the discovery I had
made.  Together we now repaired to the border of the precipice,
and my companion's admiration was equal to my own.  A little
reflection, however, abated our surprise at coming so
unexpectedly upon this valley, since the large vales of Happar
and Typee, lying upon this side of Nukuheva, and extending a
considerable distance from the sea towards the interior, must
necessarily terminate somewhere about this point.

The question now was as to which of those two places we were
looking down upon.  Toby insisted that it was the abode of the
Happar, and I that it was tenanted by their enemies the ferocious
Typees.  To be sure I was not entirely convinced by my own
arguments, but Toby's proposition to descend at once into the
valley, and partake of the hospitality of its inmates, seemed to
me to be risking so much upon the strength of a mere supposition,
that I resolved to oppose it until we had more evidence to
proceed upon.

The point was one of vital importance, as the natives of Happar
were not only at peace with Nukuheva, but cultivated with its
inhabitants the most friendly relations, and enjoyed besides a
reputation for gentleness and humanity which led us to expect
from them, if not a cordial reception, at least a shelter during
the short period we should remain in their territory.

On the other hand, the very name of Typee struck a panic into my
heart which I did not attempt to disguise.  The thought of
voluntarily throwing ourselves into the hands of these cruel
savages, seemed to me an act of mere madness; and almost equally
so the idea of venturing into the valley, uncertain by which of
these two tribes it was inhabited.  That the vale at our feet was
tenanted by one of them, was a point that appeared to us past all
doubt, since we knew that they resided in this quarter, although
our information did not enlighten us further.

My companion, however, incapable of resisting the tempting
prospect which the place held out of an abundant supply of food
and other means of enjoyment, still clung to his own
inconsiderate view of the subject, nor could all my reasoning
shake it.  When I reminded him that it was impossible for either
of us to know anything with certainty, and when I dwelt upon the
horrible fate we should encounter were we rashly to descend into
the valley, and discover too late the error we had committed, he
replied by detailing all the evils of our present condition, and
the sufferings we must undergo should we continue to remain where
we then were.

Anxious to draw him away from the subject, if possible--for I saw
that it would be in vain to attempt changing his mind--I directed
his attention to a long bright unwooded tract of land which,
sweeping down from the elevations in the interior, descended into
the valley before us.  I then suggested to him that beyond this
ridge might lie a capacious and untenanted valley, abounding with
all manner of delicious fruits; for I had heard that there were
several such upon the island, and proposed that we should
endeavour to reach it, and if we found our expectations realized
we should at once take refuge in it and remain there as long as
we pleased.

He acquiesced in the suggestion; and we immediately, therefore,
began surveying the country lying before us, with a view of
determining upon the best route for us to pursue; but it
presented little choice, the whole interval being broken into
steep ridges, divided by dark ravines, extending in parallel
lines at right angles to our direct course.  All these we would
be obliged to cross before we could hope to arrive at our
destination.

A weary journey!  But we decided to undertake it, though, for my
own part, I felt little prepared to encounter its fatigues,
shivering and burning by turns with the ague and fever; for I
know not how else to describe the alternate sensations I
experienced, and suffering not a little from the lameness which
afflicted me.  Added to this was the faintness consequent on our
meagre diet--a calamity in which Toby participated to the same
extent as myself.

These circumstances, however, only augmented my anxiety to reach
a place which promised us plenty and repose, before I should be
reduced to a state which would render me altogether unable to
perform the journey.  Accordingly we now commenced it by
descending the almost perpendicular side of a steep and narrow
gorge, bristling with a thick growth of reeds.  Here there was
but one mode for us to adopt.  We seated ourselves upon the
ground, and guided our descent by catching at the canes in our
path.  This velocity with which we thus slid down the side of the
ravine soon brought us to a point where we could use our feet,
and in a short time we arrived at the edge of the torrent, which
rolled impetuously along the bed of the chasm.

After taking a refreshing draught from the water of the stream,
we addressed ourselves to a much more difficult undertaking than
the last.  Every foot of our late descent had to be regained in
ascending the opposite side of the gorge--an operation rendered
the less agreeable from the consideration that in these
perpendicular episodes we did not progress a hundred yards on our
journey.  But, ungrateful as the task was, we set about it with
exemplary patience, and after a snail-like progress of an hour or
more, had scaled perhaps one half of the distance, when the fever
which had left me for a while returned with such violence, and
accompanied by so raging a thirst, that it required all the
entreaties of Toby to prevent me from losing all the fruits of my
late exertion, by precipitating myself madly down the cliffs we
had just climbed, in quest of the water which flowed so
temptingly at their base.  At the moment all my hopes and fears
appeared to be merged in this one desire, careless of the
consequences that might result from its gratification.  I am
aware of no feeling, either of pleasure or of pain, that so
completely deprives one of an power to resist its impulses, as
this same raging thirst.

Toby earnestly conjured me to continue the ascent, assuring me
that a little more exertion would bring us to the summit, and
that then in less than five minutes we should find ourselves at
the brink of the stream, which must necessarily flow on the other
side of the ridge.

'Do not,' he exclaimed, 'turn back, now that we have proceeded
thus far; for I tell you that neither of us will have the courage
to repeat the attempt, if once more we find ourselves looking up
to where we now are from the bottom of these rocks!'

I was not yet so perfectly beside myself as to be heedless of
these representations, and therefore toiled on, ineffectually
endeavouring to appease the thirst which consumed me, by thinking
that in a short time I should be able to gratify it to my heart's
content.

At last we gained the top of the second elevation, the loftiest
of those I have described as.  extending in parallel lines
between us and the valley we desired to reach.  It commanded a
view of the whole intervening distance; and, discouraged as I was
by other circumstances, this prospect plunged me into the very
depths of despair.  Nothing but dark and fearful chasms,
separated by sharp-crested and perpendicular ridges as far as the
eye could reach.  Could we have stepped from summit to summit of
these steep but narrow elevations we could easily have
accomplished the distance; but we must penetrate to the bottom of
every yawning gulf, and scale in succession every one of the
eminences before us.  Even Toby, although not suffering as I did,
was not proof against the disheartening influences of the sight.

But we did not long stand to contemplate it, impatient as I was
to reach the waters of the torrent which flowed beneath us.  With
an insensibility to danger which I cannot call to mind without
shuddering, we threw ourselves down the depths of the ravine,
startling its savage solitudes with the echoes produced by the
falling fragments of rock we every moment dislodged from their
places, careless of the insecurity of our footing, and reckless
whether the slight roots and twigs we clutched at sustained us
for the while, or treacherously yielded to our grasp.  For my own
part, I scarcely knew whether I was helplessly falling from the
heights above, or whether the fearful rapidity with which I
descended was an act of my own volition.

In a few minutes we reached the foot of the gorge, and kneeling
upon a small ledge of dripping rocks, I bent over to the stream.  
What a delicious sensation was I now to experience!  I paused for
a second to concentrate all my capabilities of enjoyment, and
then immerged my lips in the clear element before me.  Had the
apples of Sodom turned to ashes in my mouth, I could not have
felt a more startling revulsion.  A single drop of the cold fluid
seemed to freeze every drop of blood in my body; the fever that
had been burning in my veins gave place on the instant to
death-like chills, which shook me one after another like so many
shocks of electricity, while the perspiration produced by my late
violent exertions congealed in icy beads upon my forehead.  My
thirst was gone, and I fairly loathed the water.  Starting to my
feet, the sight of those dank rocks, oozing forth moisture at
every crevice, and the dark stream shooting along its dismal
channel, sent fresh chills through my shivering frame, and I felt
as uncontrollable a desire to climb up towards the genial
sunlight as I before had to descend the ravine.

After two hours' perilous exertions we stood upon the summit of
another ridge, and it was with difficulty I could bring myself to
believe that we had ever penetrated the black and yawning chasm
which then gaped at our feet.  Again we gazed upon the prospect
which the height commanded, but it was just as depressing as the
one which had before met our eyes.  I now felt that in our
present situation it was in vain for us to think of ever
overcoming the obstacles in our way, and I gave up all thoughts
of reaching the vale which lay beyond this series of impediments;
while at the same time I could not devise any scheme to extricate
ourselves from the difficulties in which we were involved.

The remotest idea of returning to Nukuheva, unless assured of our
vessel's departure, never once entered my mind, and indeed it was
questionable whether we could have succeeded in reaching it,
divided as we were from the bay by a distance we could not
compute, and perplexed too in our remembrance of localities by
our recent wanderings.  Besides, it was unendurable the thought
of retracing our steps and rendering all our painful exertions of
no avail.

There is scarcely anything when a man is in difficulties that he
is more disposed to look upon with abhorrence than a rightabout
retrograde movement--a systematic going over of the already
trodden ground: and especially if he has a love of adventure,
such a course appears indescribably repulsive, so long as there
remains the least hope to be derived from braving untried
difficulties.

It was this feeling that prompted us to descend the opposite side
of the elevation we had just scaled, although with what definite
object in view it would have been impossible for either of us to
tell.

Without exchanging a syllable upon the subject, Toby and myself
simultaneously renounced the design which had lured us thus
far--perceiving in each other's countenances that desponding
expression which speaks more eloquently than words.

Together we stood towards the close of this weary day in the
cavity of the third gorge we had entered, wholly incapacitated
for any further exertion, until restored to some degree of
strength by food and repose.

We seated ourselves upon the least uncomfortable spot we could
select, and Toby produced from the bosom of his frock the sacred
package.  In silence we partook of the small morsel of
refreshment that had been left from the morning's repast, and
without once proposing to violate the sanctity of our engagement
with respect to the remainder, we rose to our feet, and proceeded
to construct some sort of shelter under which we might obtain the
sleep we so greatly needed.

Fortunately the spot was better adapted to our purpose than the
one in which we had passed the last wretched night.  We cleared
away the tall reeds from the small but almost level bit of
ground, and twisted them into a low basket-like hut, which we
covered with a profusion of long thick leaves, gathered from a
tree near at hand.  We disposed them thickly all around,
reserving only a slight opening that barely permitted us to crawl
under the shelter we had thus obtained.

These deep recesses, though protected from the winds that assail
the summits of their lofty sides, are damp and chill to a degree
that one would hardly anticipate in such a climate; and being
unprovided with anything but our woollen frocks and thin duck
trousers to resist the cold of the place, we were the more
solicitous to render our habitation for the night as comfortable
as we could.  Accordingly, in addition to what we had already
done, we plucked down all the leaves within our reach and threw
them in a heap over our little hut, into which we now crept,
raking after us a reserved supply to form our couch.

That night nothing but the pain I suffered prevented me from
sleeping most refreshingly.  As it was, I caught two or three
naps, while Toby slept away at my side as soundly as though he
had been sandwiched between two Holland sheets.  Luckily it did
not rain, and we were preserved from the misery which a heavy
shower would have occasioned us.  In the morning I was awakened
by the sonorous voice of my companion ringing in my ears and
bidding me rise.  I crawled out from our heap of leaves, and was
astonished at the change which a good night's rest had wrought in
his appearance.  He was as blithe and joyous as a young bird, and
was staying the keenness of his morning's appetite by chewing the
soft bark of a delicate branch he held in his hand, and he
recommended the like to me as an admirable antidote against the
gnawings of hunger.

For my own part, though feeling materially better than I had done
the preceding evening, I could not look at the limb that had
pained me so violently at intervals during the last twenty-four
hours, without experiencing a sense of alarm that I strove in
vain to shake off.  Unwilling to disturb the flow of my comrade's
spirits, I managed to stifle the complaints to which I might
otherwise have given vent, and calling upon him good-humouredly
to speed our banquet, I prepared myself for it by washing in the
stream.  This operation concluded, we swallowed, or rather
absorbed, by a peculiar kind of slow sucking process, our
respective morsels of nourishment, and then entered into a
discussion as to the steps is was necessary for us to pursue.

'What's to be done now?'  inquired I, rather dolefully.

'Descend into that same valley we descried yesterday.'  rejoined
Toby, with a rapidity and loudness of utterance that almost led
me to suspect he had been slyly devouring the broadside of an ox
in some of the adjoining thickets.  'What else,' he continued,
'remains for us to do but that, to be sure?  Why, we shall both
starve to a certainty if we remain here; and as to your fears of
those Typees--depend upon it, it is all nonsense.'

'It is impossible that the inhabitants of such a lovely place as
we saw can be anything else but good fellows; and if you choose
rather to perish with hunger in one of these soppy caverns, I for
one prefer to chance a bold descent into the valley, and risk the
consequences'.

'And who is to pilot us thither,' I asked, 'even if we should
decide upon the measure you propose?  Are we to go again up and
down those precipices that we crossed yesterday, until we reach
the place we started from, and then take a flying leap from the
cliffs to the valley?'

'Faith, I didn't think of that,' said Toby; 'sure enough, both
sides of the valley appeared to be hemmed in by precipices,
didn't they?'

'Yes,' answered I, 'as steep as the sides of a line-of-battle
ship, and about a hundred times as high.'  My companion sank his
head upon his breast, and remained for a while in deep thought.  
Suddenly he sprang to his feet, while his eyes lighted up with
that gleam of intelligence that marks the presence of some bright
idea.

'Yes, yes,' he exclaimed; 'the streams all run in the same
direction, and must necessarily flow into the valley before they
reach the sea; all we have to do is just to follow this stream,
and sooner or later it will lead us into the vale.'

'You are right, Toby,' I exclaimed, 'you are right; it must
conduct us thither, and quickly too; for, see with what a steep
inclination the water descends.'

'It does, indeed,' burst forth my companion, overjoyed at my
verification of his theory, 'it does indeed; why, it is as plain
as a pike-staff.  Let us proceed at once; come, throw away all
those stupid ideas about the Typees, and hurrah for the lovely
valley of the Happars.'

'You will have it to be Happar, I see, my dear fellow; pray
Heaven you may not find yourself deceived,' observed I, with a
shake of my head.

'Amen to all that, and much more,' shouted Toby, rushing forward;
'but Happar it is, for nothing else than Happar can it be.  So
glorious a valley--such forests of bread-fruit trees--such groves
of cocoanut--such wilderness of guava-bushes!  Ah!  shipmate!
don't linger behind: in the name of all delightful fruits, I am
dying to be at them.  Come on, come on; shove ahead, there's a
lively lad; never mind the rocks; kick them out of the way, as I
do; and tomorrow, old fellow, take my word for it, we shall be in
clover.  Come on;' and so saying, he dashed along the ravine like
a madman, forgetting my inability to keep up with him.  In a few
minutes, however, the exuberance of his spirits abated, and,
pausing for a while, he permitted me to overtake him.



CHAPTER NINE

PERILOUS PASSAGE OF THE RAVINE--DESCENT INTO THE VALLEY

The fearless confidence of Toby was contagious, and I began to
adopt the Happar side of the question.  I could not, however,
overcome a certain feeling of trepidation as we made our way
along these gloomy solitudes.  Our progress, at first
comparatively easy, became more and more difficult.  The bed of
the watercourse was covered with fragments of broken rocks, which
had fallen from above, offering so many obstructions to the
course of the rapid stream, which vexed and fretted about
them,--forming at intervals small waterfalls, pouring over into
deep basins, or splashing wildly upon heaps of stones.

From the narrowness of the gorge, and the steepness of its sides,
there was no mode of advancing but by wading through the water;
stumbling every moment over the impediments which lay hidden
under its surface, or tripping against the huge roots of trees.  
But the most annoying hindrance we encountered was from a
multitude of crooked boughs, which, shooting out almost
horizontally from the sides of the chasm, twisted themselves
together in fantastic masses almost to the surface of the stream,
affording us no passage except under the low arches which they
formed.  Under these we were obliged to crawl on our hands and
feet, sliding along the oozy surface of the rocks, or slipping
into the deep pools, and with scarce light enough to guide us.
Occasionally we would strike our heads against some projecting
limb of a tree; and while imprudently engaged in rubbing the
injured part, would fall sprawling amongst filthy fragments,
cutting and bruising ourselves, whilst the unpitying waters
flowed over our prostrate bodies.  Belzoni, worming himself
through the subterranean passages of the Egyptian catacombs,
could not have met with great impediments than those we here
encountered.  But we struggled against them manfully, well
knowing our only hope lay in advancing.

Towards sunset we halted at a spot where we made preparations for
passing the night.  Here we constructed a hut, in much the same
way as before, and crawling into it, endeavoured to forget our
sufferings.  My companion, I believe, slept pretty soundly; but
at day break, when we rolled out of our dwelling, I felt nearly
disqualified for any further efforts.  Toby prescribed as a
remedy for my illness the contents of one of our little silk
packages, to be taken at once in a single dose.  To this species
of medical treatment, however, I would by no means accede, much
as he insisted upon it; and so we partook of our usual morsel,
and silently resumed our journey.  It was now the fourth day
since we left Nukuheva, and the gnawings of hunger became
painfully acute.  We were fain to pacify them by chewing the
tender bark of roots and twigs, which, if they did not afford us
nourishment, were at least sweet and pleasant to the taste.

Our progress along the steep watercourse was necessarily slow,
and by noon we had not advanced more than a mile.  It was
somewhere near this part of the day that the noise of falling
waters, which we had faintly caught in the early morning, became
more distinct; and it was not long before we were arrested by a
rocky precipice of nearly a hundred feet in depth, that extended
all across the channel, and over which the wild stream poured in
an unbroken leap.  On each hand the walls of the ravine presented
their overhanging sides both above and below the fall, affording
no means whatever of avoiding the cataract by taking a circuit
round it.

'What's to be done now, Toby?'  said I.

'Why,' rejoined he, 'as we cannot retreat, I suppose we must keep
shoving along.'

'Very true, my dear Toby; but how do you purpose accomplishing
that desirable object?'

'By jumping from the top of the fall, if there be no other way,'
unhesitatingly replied my companion: 'it will be much the
quickest way of descent; but as you are not quite as active as I
am, we will try some other way.'

And, so saying, he crept cautiously along and peered over into
the abyss, while I remained wondering by what possible means we
could overcome this apparently insuperable obstruction.  As soon
as my companion had completed his survey, I eagerly inquired the
result.

'The result of my observations you wish to know, do you?'  began
Toby, deliberately, with one of his odd looks: 'well, my lad, the
result of my observations is very quickly imparted.  It is at
present uncertain which of our two necks will have the honour to
be broken first; but about a hundred to one would be a fair bet
in favour of the man who takes the first jump.'

'Then it is an impossible thing, is it?'  inquired I gloomily.

'No, shipmate; on the contrary, it is the easiest thing in life:
the only awkward point is the sort of usage which our unhappy
limbs may receive when we arrive at the bottom, and what sort of
travelling trim we shall be in afterwards.  But follow me now,
and I will show you the only chance we have.'   With this he
conducted me to the verge of the cataract, and pointed along the
side of the ravine to a number of curious looking roots, some
three or four inches in thickness, and several feet long, which,
after twisting among the fissures of the rock, shot
perpendicularly from it and ran tapering to a point in the air,
hanging over the gulf like so many dark icicles.  They covered
nearly the entire surface of one side of the gorge, the lowest of
them reaching even to the water.  Many were moss grown and
decayed, with their extremities snapped short off, and those in
the immediate vicinity of the fall were slippery with moisture.

Toby's scheme, and it was a desperate one, was to entrust
ourselves to these treacherous-looking roots, and by slipping
down from one to another to gain the bottom.

'Are you ready to venture it?'  asked Toby, looking at me
earnestly but without saying a word as to the practicability of
the plan.

'I am,' was my reply; for I saw it was our only resource if we
wished to advance, and as for retreating, all thoughts of that
sort had been long abandoned.

After I had signified my assent, Toby, without uttering a a
single word, crawled along the dripping ledge until he gained a
point from whence he could just reach one of the largest of the
pendant roots; he shook it--it quivered in his grasp, and when he
let it go it twanged in the air like a strong, wire sharply
struck.  Satisfied by his scrutiny, my light limbed companion
swung himself nimbly upon it, and twisting his legs round it in
sailor fashion, slipped down eight or ten feet, where his weight
gave it a motion not un-like that of a pendulum.  He could not
venture to descend any further; so holding on with one hand, he
with the other shook one by one all the slender roots around him,
and at last, finding one which he thought trustworthy, shifted
him self to it and continued his downward progress.

So far so well; but I could not avoid comparing my heavier frame
and disabled condition with his light figure and remarkable
activity; but there was no help for it, and in less than a
minute's time I was swinging directly over his head.  As soon as
his upturned eyes caught a glimpse of me, he exclaimed in his
usual dry tone, for the danger did not seem to daunt him in the
least, 'Mate, do me the kindness not to fall until I get out of
your way;' and then swinging himself more on one side, he
continued his descent.  In the mean time I cautiously transferred
myself from the limb down which I had been slipping to a couple
of others that were near it, deeming two strings to my bow better
than one, and taking care to test their strength before I trusted
my weight to them.

On arriving towards the end of the second stage in this vertical
journey, and shaking the long roots which were round me, to my
consternation they snapped off one after another like so many
pipe stems, and fell in fragments against the side of the gulf,
splashing at last into the waters beneath.

As one after another the treacherous roots yielded to my grasp,
and fell into the torrent, my heart sunk within me.  The branches
on which I was suspended over the yawning chasm swang to and fro
in the air, and I expected them every moment to snap in twain.  
Appalled at the dreadful fate that menaced me, I clutched
frantically at the only large root which remained near me, but in
vain; I could not reach it, though my fingers were within a few
inches of it.  Again and again I tried to reach it, until at
length, maddened with the thought of my situation, I swayed
myself violently by striking my foot against the side of the
rock, and at the instant that I approached the large root caught
desperately at it, and transferred myself to it.  It vibrated
violently under the sudden weight, but fortunately did not give
way.

My brain grew dizzy with the idea of the frightful risk I had
just run, and I involuntarily closed my eyes to shut out the view
of the depth beneath me.  For the instant I was safe, and I
uttered a devout ejaculation of thanksgiving for my escape.

'Pretty well done,' shouted Toby underneath me; 'you are nimbler
than I thought you to be--hopping about up there from root to
root like any young squirrel.  As soon as you have diverted
yourself sufficiently, I would advise you to proceed.'

'Aye, aye, Toby, all in good time: two or three more such famous
roots as this, and I shall be with you.'

The residue of my downward progress was comparatively easy; the
roots were in greater abundance, and in one or two places jutting
out points of rock assisted me greatly.  In a few moments I was
standing by the side of my companion.

Substituting a stout stick for the one I had thrown aside at the
top of the precipice, we now continued our course along the bed
of the ravine.  Soon we were saluted by a sound in advance, that
grew by degrees louder and louder, as the noise of the cataract
we were leaving behind gradually died on our ears.

'Another precipice for us, Toby.'

'Very good; we can descend them, you know--come on.'

Nothing indeed appeared to depress or intimidate this intrepid
fellow.  Typees or Niagaras, he was as ready to engage one as the
other, and I could not avoid a thousand times congratulating
myself upon having such a companion in an enterprise like the
present.

After an hour's painful progress, we reached the verge of another
fall, still loftier than the preceding and flanked both above and
below with the same steep masses of rock, presenting, however,
here and there narrow irregular ledges, supporting a shallow
soil, on which grew a variety of bushes and trees, whose bright
verdure contrasted beautifully with the foamy waters that flowed
between them.

Toby, who invariably acted as pioneer, now proceeded to
reconnoitre.  On his return, he reported that the shelves of rock
on our right would enable us to gain with little risk the bottom
of the cataract.  Accordingly, leaving the bed of the stream at
the very point where it thundered down, we began crawling along
one of those sloping ledges until it carried us to within a few
feet of another that inclined downwards at a still sharper angle,
and upon which, by assisting each other we managed to alight in
safety.  We warily crept along this, steadying ourselves by the
naked roots of the shrubs that clung to every fissure.  As we
proceeded, the narrow path became still more contracted,
rendering it difficult for us to maintain our footing, until
suddenly, as we reached an angle of the wall of rock where we had
expected it to widen, we perceived to our consternation that a
yard or two further on it abruptly terminated at a place we could
not possibly hope to pass.

Toby as usual led the van, and in silence I waited to learn from
him how he proposed to extricate us from this new difficulty.

'Well, my boy,' I exclaimed, after the expiration of several
minutes, during which time my companion had not uttered a word,
'what's to be done now?'

He replied in a tranquil tone, that probably the best thing we
could do in our present strait was to get out of it as soon as
possible.

'Yes, my dear Toby, but tell me how we are to get out of it.'

'Something in this sort of style,' he replied, and at the same
moment to my horror he slipped sideways off the rocks and, as I
then thought, by good fortune merely, alighted among the
spreading branches of a species of palm tree, that shooting its
hardy roots along a ledge below, curved its trunk upwards into
the air, and presented a thick mass of foliage about twenty feet
below the spot where we had thus suddenly been brought to a
standstill.  I involuntarily held my breath, expecting to see the
form of my companion, after being sustained for a moment by the
branches of the tree, sink through their frail support, and fall
headlong to the bottom.  To my surprise and joy, however, he
recovered himself, and disentangling his limbs from the fractured
branches, he peered out from his leafy bed, and shouted lustily,
'Come on, my hearty there is no other alternative!' and with this
he ducked beneath the foliage, and slipping down the trunk, stood
in a moment at least fifty feet beneath me, upon the broad shelf
of rock from which sprung the tree he had descended.

What would I not have given at that moment to have been by his
side.  The feat he had just accomplished seemed little less than
miraculous, and I could hardly credit the evidence of my senses
when I saw the wide distance that a single daring act had so
suddenly placed between us.

Toby's animating 'come on' again sounded in my ears, and dreading
to lose all confidence in myself if I remained meditating upon
the step, I once more gazed down to assure myself of the relative
bearing of the tree and my own position, and then closing my eyes
and uttering one comprehensive ejaculation of prayer, I inclined
myself over towards the abyss, and after one breathless instant
fell with a crash into the tree, the branches snapping and
cracking with my weight, as I sunk lower and lower among them,
until I was stopped by coming in contact with a sturdy limb.

In a few moments I was standing at the foot of the tree
manipulating myself all over with a view of ascertaining the
extent of the injuries I had received.  To my surprise the only
effects of my feat were a few slight contusions too trifling to
care about.  The rest of our descent was easily accomplished, and
in half an hour after regaining the ravine we had partaken of our
evening morsel, built our hut as usual, and crawled under its
shelter.

The next morning, in spite of our debility and the agony of
hunger under which we were now suffering, though neither of us
confessed to the fact, we struggled along our dismal and still
difficult and dangerous path, cheered by the hope of soon
catching a glimpse of the valley before us, and towards evening
the voice of a cataract which had for some time sounded like a
low deep bass to the music of the smaller waterfalls, broke upon
our ears in still louder tones, and assured us that we were
approaching its vicinity.

That evening we stood on the brink of a precipice, over which the
dark stream bounded in one final leap of full 300 feet.  The
sheer descent terminated in the region we so long had sought.  On
each side of the fall, two lofty and perpendicular bluffs
buttressed the sides of the enormous cliff, and projected into
the sea of verdure with which the valley waved, and a range of
similar projecting eminences stood disposed in a half circle
about the head if the vale.  A thick canopy of trees hung over
the very verge of the fall, leaving an arched aperture for the
passage of the waters, which imparted a strange picturesqueness
to the scene.

The valley was now before us; but instead of being conducted into
its smiling bosom by the gradual descent of the deep watercourse
we had thus far pursued, all our labours now appeared to have
been rendered futile by its abrupt termination.  But, bitterly
disappointed, we did not entirely despair.

As it was now near sunset we determined to pass the night where
we were, and on the morrow, refreshed by sleep, and by eating at
one meal all our stock of food, to accomplish a descent into the
valley, or perish in the attempt.

We laid ourselves down that night on a spot, the recollection of
which still makes me shudder.  A small table of rock which
projected over the precipice on one side of the stream, and was
drenched by the spray of the fall, sustained a huge trunk of a
tree which must have been deposited there by some heavy freshet.  
It lay obliquely, with one end resting on the rock and the other
supported by the side of the ravine.  against it we placed in a
sloping direction a number of the half decayed boughs that were
strewn about, and covering the whole with twigs and leaves,
awaited the morning's light beneath such shelter as it afforded. 


   During the whole of this night the continual roaring of the
cataract--the dismal moaning of the gale through the trees--the
pattering of the rain, and the profound darkness, affected my
spirits to a degree which nothing had ever before produced.  Wet,
half famished, and chilled to the heart with the dampness of the
place, and nearly wild with the pain I endured, I fairly cowered
down to the earth under this multiplication of hardships, and
abandoned myself to frightful anticipations of evil; and my
companion, whose spirit at last was a good deal broken, scarcely
uttered a word during the whole night.

At length the day dawned upon us, and rising from our miserable
pallet, we stretched our stiffened joints, and after eating all
that remained of our bread, prepared for the last stage of our
journey.    I will not recount every hair-breadth escape, and
every fearful difficulty that occurred before we succeeded in
reaching the bosom of the valley.  As I have already described
similar scenes, it will be sufficient to say that at length,
after great toil and great dangers, we both stood with no limbs
broken at the head of that magnificent vale which five days
before had so suddenly burst upon my sight, and almost beneath
the shadow of those very cliffs from whose summits we had gazed
upon the prospect.



CHAPTER TEN

THE HEAD OF THE VALLEY--CAUTIOUS ADVANCE--A
PATH--FRUIT--DISCOVERY OF TWO OF THE NATIVES--THEIR SINGULAR
CONDUCT--APPROACH TOWARDS THE INHABITED PARTS OF THE
VALE--SENSATION PRODUCED BY OUR APPEARANCE--RECEPTION AT THE
HOUSE OF ONE OF THE NATIVES

HOW to obtain the fruit which we felt convinced must grow near at
hand was our first thought.

Typee or Happar?  A frightful death at the hands of the fiercest
of cannibals, or a kindly reception from a gentler race of
savages?  Which?  But it was too late now to discuss a question
which would so soon be answered.

The part of the valley in which we found ourselves appeared to be
altogether uninhabited.  An almost impenetrable thicket extended
from side to side, without presenting a single plant affording
the nourishment we had confidently calculated upon; and with this
object, we followed the course of the stream, casting quick
glances as we proceeded into the thick jungles on each hand.   My
companion--to whose solicitations I had yielded in descending
into the valley--now that the step was taken, began to manifest a
degree of caution I had little expected from him.  He proposed
that in the event of our finding an adequate supply of fruit, we
should remain in this unfrequented portion of the country--where
we should run little chance of being surprised by its occupants,
whoever they might be--until sufficiently recruited to resume our
journey; when laying a store of food equal to our wants, we might
easily regain the bay of Nukuheva, after the lapse of a
sufficient interval to ensure the departure of our vessel.

I objected strongly to this proposition, plausible as it was, as
the difficulties of the route would be almost insurmountable,
unacquainted as we were with the general bearings of the country,
and I reminded my companion of the hardships which we had already
encountered in our uncertain wanderings; in a word, I said that
since we had deemed it advisable to enter the valley, we ought
manfully to face the consequences, whatever they might be; the
more especially as I was convinced there was no alternative left
us but to fall in with the natives at once, and boldly risk the
reception they might give us; and that as to myself, I felt the
necessity of rest and shelter, and that until I had obtained
them, I should be wholly unable to encounter such sufferings as
we had lately passed through.  To the justice of these
observations Toby somewhat reluctantly assented.

We were surprised that, after moving as far as we had along the
valley, we should still meet with the same impervious thickets;
and thinking, that although the borders of the stream might be
lined for some distance with them, yet beyond there might be more
open ground, I requested Toby to keep a bright look-out upon one
side, while I did the same on the other, in order to discover
some opening in the bushes, and especially to watch for the
slightest appearance of a path or anything else that might
indicate the vicinity of the islanders.

What furtive and anxious glances we cast into those dim-looking
shadows!  With what apprehensions we proceeded, ignorant at what
moment we might be greeted by the javelin of some ambushed
savage.  At last my companion paused, and directed my attention
to a narrow opening in the foliage.  We struck into it, and it
soon brought us by an indistinctly traced path to a comparatively
clear space, at the further end of which we descried a number of
the trees, the native name of which is 'annuee', and which bear a
most delicious fruit.  W hat a race!  I hobbling over the ground
like some decrepid wretch, and Toby leaping forward like a
greyhound.  He quickly cleared one of the trees on which there
were two or three of the fruit, but to our chagrin they proved to
be much decayed; the rinds partly opened by the birds, and their
hearts half devoured.  However, we quickly despatched them, and
no ambrosia could have been more delicious.

We looked about us uncertain whither to direct our steps, since
the path we had so far followed appeared to be lost in the open
space around us.  At last we resolved to enter a grove near at
hand, and had advanced a few rods, when, just upon its skirts, I
picked up a slender bread-fruit shoot perfectly green, and with
the tender.  bark freshly stripped from it.  It was still
slippery with moisture, and appeared as if it had been but that
moment thrown aside.  I said nothing, but merely held it up to
Toby, who started at this undeniable evidence of the vicinity of
the savages.

The plot was now thickening.--A short distance further lay a
little faggot of the same shoots bound together with a strip of
bark.  Could it have been thrown down by some solitary native,
who, alarmed at seeing us, had hurried forward to carry the
tidings of our approach to his countrymen?--Typee or Happar?--But
it was too late to recede, so we moved on slowly, my companion in
advance casting eager glances under the trees on each side, until
all at once I saw him recoil as if stung by an adder.  Sinking on
his knee, he waved me off with one hand, while with the other he
held aside some intervening leaves, and gazed intently at some
object.

Disregarding his injunction, I quickly approached him and caught
a glimpse of two figures partly hidden by the dense foliage; they
were standing close together, and were perfectly motionless.  
They must have previously perceived us, and withdrawn into the
depths of the wood to elude our observation.

My mind was at once made up.  Dropping my staff, and tearing open
the package of things we had brought from the ship, I unrolled
the cotton cloth, and holding it in one hand picked with the
other a twig from the bushes beside me, and telling Toby to
follow my example, I broke through the covert and advanced,
waving the branch in token of peace towards the shrinking forms
before me.  They were a boy and a girl, slender and graceful, and
completely naked, with the exception of a slight girdle of bark,
from which depended at opposite points two of the russet leaves
of the bread-fruit tree.  An arm of the boy, half screened from
sight by her wild tresses, was thrown about the neck of the girl,
while with the other he held one of her hands in his; and thus
they stood together, their heads inclined forward, catching the
faint noise we made in our progress, and with one foot in
advance, as if half inclined to fly from our presence.

As we drew near, their alarm evidently increased.  Apprehensive
that they might fly from us altogether, I stopped short and
motioned them to advance and receive the gift I extended towards
them, but they would not; I then uttered a few words of their
language with which I was acquainted, scarcely expected that they
would understand me, but to show that we had not dropped from the
clouds upon them.  This appeared to give them a little
confidence, so I approached nearer, presenting the cloth with one
hand, and holding the bough with the other, while they slowly
retreated.  At last they suffered us to approach so near to them
that we were enabled to throw the cotton cloth across their
shoulders, giving them to understand that it was theirs, and by a
variety of gestures endeavouring to make them understand that we
entertained the highest possible regard for them.

The frightened pair now stood still, whilst we endeavoured to
make them comprehend the nature of our wants.  In doing this Toby
went through with a complete series of pantomimic
illustrations--opening his mouth from ear to ear, and thrusting
his fingers down his throat, gnashing his teeth and rolling his
eyes about, till I verily believe the poor creatures took us for
a couple of white cannibals who were about to make a meal of
them.  When, however, they understood us, they showed no
inclination to relieve our wants.  At this juncture it began to
rain violently, and we motioned them to lead us to some place of
shelter.  With this request they appeared willing to comply, but
nothing could evince more strongly the apprehension with which
they regarded us, than the way in which, whilst walking before
us, they kept their eyes constantly turned back to watch every
movement  we made, and even our very looks.

'Typee or Happar, Toby?'  asked I as we walked after them.

'Of course Happar,' he replied, with a show of confidence which
was intended to disguise his doubts.

'We shall soon know,' I exclaimed; and at the same moment I
stepped forward towards our guides, and pronouncing the two names
interrogatively and pointing to the lowest part of the valley,
endeavoured to come to the point at once.  They repeated the
words after me again and again, but without giving any peculiar
emphasis to either, so that I was completely at a loss to
understand them; for a couple of wilier young things than we
afterwards found them to have been on this particular occasion
never probably fell in any traveller's way.

More and more curious to ascertain our fate, I now threw together
in the form of a question the words 'Happar' and 'Motarkee', the
latter being equivalent to the word 'good'.  The two natives
interchanged glances of peculiar meaning with one another at
this, and manifested no little surprise; but on the repetition of
the question after some consultation together, to the great joy
of Toby, they answered in the affirmative.  Toby was now in
ecstasies, especially as the young savages continued to reiterate
their answer with great energy, as though desirous of impressing
us with the idea that being among the Happars, we ought to
consider ourselves perfectly secure.

Although I had some lingering doubts, I feigned great delight
with Toby at this announcement, while my companion broke out into
a pantomimic abhorrence of Typee, and immeasurable love for the
particular valley in which we were; our guides all the while
gazing uneasily at one another as if at a loss to account for our
conduct.

They hurried on, and we followed them; until suddenly they set up
a strange halloo, which was answered from beyond the grove
through which we were passing, and the next moment we entered
upon some open ground, at the extremity of which we descried a
long, low hut, and in front of it were several young girls.  As
soon as they perceived us they fled with wild screams into the
adjoining thickets, like so many startled fawns.  A few moments
after the whole valley resounded with savage outcries, and the
natives came running towards us from every direction.

Had an army of invaders made an irruption into their territory
they could not have evinced greater excitement.  We were soon
completely encircled by a dense throng, and in their eager desire
to behold us they almost arrested our progress; an equal number
surrounded our youthful guides, who with amazing volubility
appeared to be detailing the circumstances which had attended
their meeting with us.  Every item of intelligence appeared to
redouble the astonishment of the islanders, and they gazed at us
with inquiring looks.

At last we reached a large and handsome building of bamboos, and
were by signs told to enter it, the natives opening a lane for us
through which to pass; on entering without ceremony, we threw our
exhausted frames upon the mats that covered the floor.  In a
moment the slight tenement was completely full of people, whilst
those who were unable to obtain admittance gazed at us through
its open cane-work.

It was now evening, and by the dim light we could just discern
the savage countenances around us, gleaming with wild curiosity
and wonder; the naked forms and tattooed limbs of brawny
warriors, with here and there the slighter figures of young
girls, all engaged in a perfect storm of conversation, of which
we were of course the one only theme, whilst our recent guides
were fully occupied in answering the innumerable questions which
every one put to them.  Nothing can exceed the fierce
gesticulation of these people when animated in conversation, and
on this occasion they gave loose to all their natural vivacity,
shouting and dancing about in a manner that well nigh intimidated
us.

Close to where we lay, squatting upon their haunches, were some
eight or ten noble-looking chiefs--for such they subsequently
proved to be--who, more reserved than the rest, regarded us with
a fixed and stern attention, which not a little discomposed our
equanimity.  One of them in particular, who appeared to be the
highest in rank, placed himself directly facing me, looking at me
with a rigidity of aspect under which I absolutely quailed.  He
never once opened his lips, but maintained his severe expression
of countenance, without turning his face aside for a single
moment.  Never before had I been subjected to so strange and
steady a glance; it revealed nothing of the mind of the savage,
but it appeared to be reading my own.

After undergoing this scrutiny till I grew absolutely nervous,
with a view of diverting it if possible, and conciliating the
good opinion of the warrior, I took some tobacco from the bosom
of my frock and offered it to him.  He quietly rejected the
proffered gift, and, without speaking, motioned me to return it
to its place.

In my previous intercourse with the natives of Nukuheva and Tior,
I had found that the present of a small piece of tobacco would
have rendered any of them devoted to my service.  Was this act of
the chief a token of his enmity?  Typee or Happar?  I asked
within myself.  I started, for at the same moment this identical
question was asked by the strange being before me.  I turned to
Toby, the flickering light of a native taper showed me his
countenance pale with trepidation at this fatal question.  I
paused for a second, and I know not by what impulse it was that I
answered 'Typee'.  The piece of dusky statuary nodded in
approval, and then murmured 'Motarkee!'  'Motarkee,' said I,
without further hesitation 'Typee motarkee.'

What a transition!  The dark figures around us leaped to their
feet, clapped their hands in transport, and shouted again and
again the talismanic syllables, the utterance of which appeared
to have settled everything.

When this commotion had a little subsided, the principal chief
squatted once more before me, and throwing himself into a sudden
rage, poured forth a string of philippics, which I was at no loss
to understand, from the frequent recurrence of the word Happar,
as being directed against the natives of the adjoining valley.  
In all these denunciations my companion and I acquiesced, while
we extolled the character of the warlike Typees.  To be sure our
panegyrics were somewhat laconic, consisting in the repetition of
that name, united with the potent adjective 'motarkee'.  But this
was sufficient, and served to conciliate the good will of the
natives, with whom our congeniality of sentiment on this point
did more towards inspiring a friendly feeling than anything else
that could have happened.

At last the wrath of the chief evaporated, and in a few moments
he was as placid as ever.  Laying his hand upon his breast, he
gave me to understand that his name was 'Mehevi', and that, in
return, he wished me to communicate my appellation.  I hesitated
for an instant, thinking that it might be difficult for him to
pronounce my real name, and then with the most praiseworthy
intentions intimated that I was known as 'Tom'.  But I could not
have made a worse selection; the chief could not master it.  
'Tommo,' 'Tomma', 'Tommee', everything but plain 'Tom'.  As he
persisted in garnishing the, word with an additional syllable, I
compromised the matter with him at the word 'Tommo'; and by that
name I went during the entire period of my stay in the valley.  
The same proceeding was gone through with Toby, whose mellifluous
appellation was more easily caught.

An exchange of names is equivalent to a ratification of good will
and amity among these simple people; and as we were aware of this
fact, we were delighted that it had taken place on the present
occasion.

Reclining upon our mats, we now held a kind of levee, giving
audience to successive troops of the natives, who introduced
themselves to us by pronouncing their respective names, and
retired in high good humour on receiving ours in return.  During
this ceremony the greatest merriment prevailed nearly every
announcement on the part of the islanders being followed by a
fresh sally of gaiety, which induced me to believe that some of
them at least were innocently diverting the company at our
expense, by bestowing upon themselves a string of absurd titles,
of the humour of which we were of course entirely ignorant.

All this occupied about an hour, when the throng having a little
diminished, I turned to Mehevi and gave him to understand that we
were in need of food and sleep.  Immediately the attentive chief
addressed a few words to one of the crowd, who disappeared, and
returned in a few moments with a calabash of 'poee-poee', and two
or three young cocoanuts stripped of their husks, and with their
shells partly broken.  We both of us forthwith placed one of
these natural goblets to our lips, and drained it in a moment of
the refreshing draught it contained.  The poee-poee was then
placed before us, and even famished as I was, I paused to
consider in what manner to convey it to my mouth.

This staple article of food among the Marquese islanders is
manufactured from the produce of the bread-fruit tree.  It
somewhat resembles in its plastic nature our bookbinders' paste,
is of a yellow colour, and somewhat tart to the taste.

Such was the dish, the merits of which I was now eager to
discuss.  I eyed it wistfully for a moment, and then, unable any
longer to stand on ceremony, plunged my hand into the yielding
mass, and to the boisterous mirth of the natives drew it forth
laden with the poee-poee, which adhered in lengthy strings to
every finger.  So stubborn was its consistency, that in conveying
my heavily-weighted hand to my mouth, the connecting links almost
raised the calabash from the mats on which it had been placed.  
This display of awkwardness--in which, by-the-bye, Toby kept me
company--convulsed the bystanders with uncontrollable laughter.

As soon as their merriment had somewhat subsided, Mehevi,
motioning us to be attentive, dipped the forefinger of his right
hand in the dish, and giving it a rapid and scientific twirl,
drew it out coated smoothly with the preparation.  With a second
peculiar flourish he prevented the poee-poee from dropping to the
ground as he raised it to his mouth, into which the finger was
inserted and drawn forth perfectly free from any adhesive matter.

This performance was evidently intended for our instruction; so I
again essayed the feat on the principles inculcated, but with
very ill success.

A starving man, however, little heeds conventional proprieties,
especially on a South-Sea Island, and accordingly Toby and I
partook of the dish after our own clumsy fashion, beplastering
our faces all over with the glutinous compound, and daubing our
hands nearly to the wrist.  This kind of food is by no means
disagreeable to the palate of a European, though at first the
mode of eating it may be.  For my own part, after the lapse of a
few days I became accustomed to its singular flavour, and grew
remarkably fond of it.

So much for the first course; several other dishes followed it,
some of which were positively delicious.  We concluded our
banquet by tossing off the contents of two more young cocoanuts,
after which we regaled ourselves with the soothing fumes of
tobacco, inhaled from a quaintly carved pipe which passed round
the circle.

During the repast, the natives eyed us with intense curiosity,
observing our minutest motions, and appearing to discover
abundant matter for comment in the most trifling occurrence.  
Their surprise mounted the highest, when we began to remove our
uncomfortable garments, which were saturated with rain.  They
scanned the whiteness of our limbs, and seemed utterly unable to
account for the contrast they presented to the swarthy hue of our
faces embrowned from a six months' exposure to the scorching sun
of the Line.  They felt our skin, much in the same way that a
silk mercer would handle a remarkably fine piece of satin; and
some of them went so far in their investigation as to apply the
olfactory organ.

Their singular behaviour almost led me to imagine that they never
before had beheld a white man; but a few moments' reflection
convinced me that this could not have been the case; and a more
satisfactory reason for their conduct has since suggested itself
to my mind.

Deterred by the frightful stories related of its inhabitants,
ships never enter this bay, while their hostile relations with
the tribes in the adjoining valleys prevent the Typees from
visiting that section of the island where vessels occasionally
lie.  At long intervals, however, some intrepid captain will
touch on the skirts of the bay, with two or three armed boats'
crews and accompanied by interpreters.  The natives who live near
the sea descry the strangers long before they reach their waters,
and aware of the purpose for which they come, proclaim loudly the
news of their approach.  By a species of vocal telegraph the
intelligence reaches the inmost recesses of the vale in an
inconceivably short space of time, drawing nearly its whole
population down to the beach laden with every variety of fruit.  
The interpreter, who is invariably a 'tabooed Kanaka'*, leaps
ashore with the goods intended for barter, while the boats, with
their oars sloped, and every man on his thwart, lie just outside
the surf, heading off the shore, in readiness at the first
untoward event to escape to the open sea.  As soon as the traffic
is concluded, one of the boats pulls in under cover of the
muskets of the others, the fruit is quickly thrown into her, and
the transient visitors precipitately retire from what they justly
consider so dangerous a vicinity.

* The word 'Kanaka' is at the present day universally used in the
South Seas by Europeans to designate the Islanders.  In the
various dialects of the principal groups it is simply a sexual
designation applied to the males; but it is now used by the
natives in their intercourse with foreigners in the same sense in
which the latter employ it.

A 'Tabooed Kanaka' is an islander whose person has been made to a
certain extent sacred by the operation of a singular custom
hereafter to be explained.



The intercourse occurring with Europeans being so restricted, no
wonder that the inhabitants of the valley manifested so much
curiosity with regard to us, appearing as we did among them under
such singular circumstances.  I have no doubt that we were the
first white men who ever penetrated thus far back into their
territories, or at least the first who had ever descended from
the head of the vale.  What had brought us thither must have
appeared a complete mystery to them, and from our ignorance of
the language it was impossible for us to enlighten them.  In
answer to inquiries which the eloquence of their gestures enabled
us to comprehend, all that we could reply was, that we had come
from Nukuheva, a place, be it remembered, with which they were at
open war.  This intelligence appeared to affect them with the
most lively emotions.  'Nukuheva motarkee?'  they asked.  Of
course we replied most energetically in the negative.

Then they plied us with a thousand questions, of which we could
understand nothing more than that they had reference to the
recent movements of the French, against whom they seemed to
cherish the most fierce hatred.  So eager were they to obtain
information on this point, that they still continued to propound
their queries long after we had shown that we were utterly unable
to answer them.  Occasionally we caught some indistinct idea of
their meaning, when we would endeavour by every method in our
power to communicate the desired intelligence.  At such times
their gratification was boundless, and they would redouble their
efforts to make us comprehend them more perfectly.  But all in
vain; and in the end they looked at us despairingly, as if we
were the receptacles of invaluable information; but how to come
at it they knew not.

After a while the group around us gradually dispersed, and we
were left about midnight (as we conjectured) with those who
appeared to be permanent residents of the house.  These
individuals now provided us with fresh mats to lie upon, covered
us with several folds of tappa, and then extinguishing the tapers
that had been burning, threw themselves down beside us, and after
a little desultory conversation were soon sound asleep.



CHAPTER ELEVEN

MIDNIGHT REFLECTIONS--MORNING VISITORS--A WARRIOR IN COSTUME--A
SAVAGE AESCULAPIUS--PRACTICE OF THE HEALING ART--BODY SERVANT--A
DWELLING-HOUSE OF THE VALLEY DESCRIBED--PORTRAITS OF ITS INMATES

VARIOUS and conflicting were the thoughts which oppressed me
during the silent hours that followed the events related in the
preceding chapter.  Toby, wearied with the fatigues of the day,
slumbered heavily by my side; but the pain under which I was
suffering effectually prevented my sleeping, and I remained
distressingly alive to all the fearful circumstances of our
present situation.  Was it possible that, after all our
vicissitudes, we were really in the terrible valley of Typee, and
at the mercy of its inmates, a fierce and unrelenting tribe of
savages?  Typee or Happar?  I shuddered when I reflected that
there was no longer any room for doubt; and that, beyond all hope
of escape, we were now placed in those very circumstances from
the bare thought of which I had recoiled with such abhorrence but
a few days before.  What might not be our fearful destiny?  To be
sure, as yet we had been treated with no violence; nay, had been
even kindly and hospitably entertained.  But what dependence
could be placed upon the fickle passions which sway the bosom of
a savage?  His inconstancy and treachery are proverbial.  Might
it not be that beneath these fair appearances the islanders
covered some perfidious design, and that their friendly reception
of us might only precede some horrible catastrophe?  How strongly
did these forebodings spring up in my mind as I lay restlessly
upon a couch of mats surrounded by the dimly revealed forms of
those whom I so greatly dreaded!

From the excitement of these fearful thoughts I sank towards
morning into an uneasy slumber; and on awaking, with a start, in
the midst of an appalling dream, looked up into the eager
countenance of a number of the natives, who were bending over me.

It was broad day; and the house was nearly filled with young
females, fancifully decorated with flowers, who gazed upon me as
I rose with faces in which childish delight and curiosity were
vividly portrayed.  After waking Toby, they seated themselves
round us on the mats, and gave full play to that prying
inquisitiveness which time out of mind has been attributed to the
adorable sex.

As these unsophisticated young creatures were attended by no
jealous duennas, their proceedings were altogether informal, and
void of artificial restraint.  Long and minute was the
investigation with which they honoured us, and so uproarious
their mirth, that I felt infinitely sheepish; and Toby was
immeasurably outraged at their familiarity.

These lively young ladies were at the same time wonderfully
polite and humane; fanning aside the insects that occasionally
lighted on our brows; presenting us with food; and
compassionately regarding me in the midst of my afflictions.  But
in spite of all their blandishments, my feelings of propriety
were exceedingly shocked, for I could but consider them as having
overstepped the due limits of female decorum.

Having diverted themselves to their hearts' content, our young
visitants now withdrew, and gave place to successive troops of
the other sex, who continued flocking towards the house until
near noon; by which time I have no doubt that the greater part of
the inhabitants of the valley had bathed themselves in the light
of our benignant countenances.

At last, when their numbers began to diminish, a superb-looking
warrior stooped the towering plumes of his head-dress  beneath
the low portal, and entered the house.  I saw at once that he was
some distinguished personage, the natives regarding him with the
utmost deference, and making room for him as he approached.  His
aspect was imposing.  The splendid long drooping tail-feathers of
the tropical bird, thickly interspersed with the gaudy plumage of
the cock, were disposed in an immense upright semicircle upon his
head, their lower extremities being fixed in a crescent of
guinea-heads which spanned the forehead.  Around his neck were
several enormous necklaces of boar's tusks, polished like ivory,
and disposed in such a manner as that the longest and largest
were upon his capacious chest.  Thrust forward through the large
apertures in his ears were two small and finely-shaped sperm
whale teeth, presenting their cavities in front, stuffed with
freshly-plucked leaves, and curiously wrought at the other end
into strange little images and devices.  These barbaric trinkets,
garnished in this manner at their open extremities, and tapering
and curving round to a point behind the ear, resembled not a
little a pair of cornucopias.

The loins of the warrior were girt about with heavy folds of a
dark-coloured tappa, hanging before and behind in clusters of
braided tassels, while anklets and bracelets of curling human
hair completed his unique costume.  In his right hand he grasped
a beautifully carved paddle-spear, nearly fifteen feet in length,
made of the bright koar-wood, one end sharply pointed, and the
other flattened like an oar-blade.  Hanging obliquely from his
girdle by a loop of sinnate was a richly decorated pipe; the
slender reed forming its stem was coloured with a red pigment,
and round it, as well as the idol-bowl, fluttered little
streamers of the thinnest tappa.

But that which was most remarkable in the appearance of this
splendid islander was the elaborate tattooing displayed on every
noble limb.  All imaginable lines and curves and figures were
delineated over his whole body, and in their grotesque variety
and infinite profusion I could only compare them to the crowded
groupings of quaint patterns we sometimes see in costly pieces of
lacework.  The most simple and remarkable of all these ornaments
was that which decorated the countenance of the chief.  Two broad
stripes of tattooing, diverging from the centre of his shaven
crown, obliquely crossed both eyes--staining the lids--to a
little below each ear, where they united with another stripe
which swept in a straight line along the lips and formed the base
of the triangle.  The warrior, from the excellence of his
physical proportions, might certainly have been regarded as one
of Nature's noblemen, and the lines drawn upon his face may
possibly have denoted his exalted rank.

This warlike personage, upon entering the house, seated himself
at some distance from the spot where Toby and myself reposed,
while the rest of the savages looked alternately from us to him,
as if in expectation of something they were disappointed in not
perceiving.  Regarding the chief attentively, I thought his
lineaments appeared familiar to me.  As soon as his full face was
turned upon me, and I again beheld its extraordinary
embellishment, and met the strange gaze to which I had been
subjected the preceding night, I immediately, in spite of the
alteration in his appearance, recognized the noble Mehevi.  On
addressing him, he advanced at once in the most cordial manner,
and greeting me warmly, seemed to enjoy not a little the effect
his barbaric costume had produced upon me.

I forthwith determined to secure, if possible, the good-will of
this individual, as I easily perceived he was a man of great
authority in his tribe, and one who might exert a powerful
influence upon our subsequent fate.  In the endeavour I was not
repulsed; for nothing could surpass the friendliness he
manifested towards both my companion and myself.  He extended his
sturdy limbs by our side, and endeavoured to make us comprehend
the full extent of the kindly feelings by which he was actuated.  
The almost insuperable difficulty in communicating to one another
our ideas affected the chief with no little mortification.  He
evinced a great desire to be enlightened with regard to the
customs and peculiarities of the far-off country we had left
behind us, and to which under the name of Maneeka he frequently
alluded.

But that which more than any other subject engaged his attention
was the late proceedings of the 'Frannee' as he called the
French, in the neighbouring bay of Nukuheva.  This seemed a
never-ending theme with him, and one concerning which he was
never weary of interrogating us.  All the information we
succeeded in imparting to him on this subject was little more
than that we had seen six men-of-war lying in the hostile bay at
the time we had left it.  When he received this intelligence,
Mehevi, by the aid of his fingers, went through a long numerical
calculation, as if estimating the number of Frenchmen the
squadron might contain.

It was just after employing his faculties in this way that he
happened to notice the swelling in my limb.  He immediately
examined it with the utmost attention, and after doing so,
despatched a boy who happened to be standing by with some
message.

After the lapse of a few moments the stripling re-entered the
house with an aged islander, who might have been taken for old
Hippocrates himself.  His head was as bald as the polished
surface of a cocoanut shell, which article it precisely resembled
in smoothness and colour, while a long silvery beard swept almost
to his girdle of bark.  Encircling his temples was a bandeau of
the twisted leaves of the Omoo tree, pressed closely over the
brows to shield his feeble vision from the glare of the sun.  His
tottering steps were supported by a long slim staff, resembling
the wand with which a theatrical magician appears on the stage,
and in one hand he carried a freshly plaited fan of the green
leaflets of the cocoanut tree.  A flowing robe of tappa, knotted
over the shoulder, hung loosely round his stooping form, and
heightened the venerableness of his aspect.

Mehevi, saluting this old gentleman, motioned him to a seat
between us, and then uncovering my limb, desired him to examine
it.  The leech gazed intently from me to Toby, and then proceeded
to business.  After diligently observing the ailing member, he
commenced manipulating it; and on the supposition probably that
the complaint had deprived the leg of all sensation, began to
pinch and hammer it in such a manner that I absolutely roared
with pain.  Thinking that I was as capable of making an
application of thumps and pinches to the part as any one else, I
endeavoured to resist this species of medical treatment.  But it
was not so easy a matter to get out of the clutches of the old
wizard; he fastened on the unfortunate limb as if it were
something for which he had been long seeking, and muttering some
kind of incantation continued his discipline, pounding it after a
fashion that set me well nigh crazy; while Mehevi, upon the same
principle which prompts an affectionate mother to hold a
struggling child in a dentist's chair, restrained me in his
powerful grasp, and actually encouraged the wretch in this
infliction of torture.

Almost frantic with rage and pain, I yelled like a bedlamite;
while Toby, throwing himself into all the attitudes of a
posture-master, vainly endeavoured to expostulate with the
natives by signs and gestures.  To have looked at my companion,
as, sympathizing with my sufferings, he strove to put an end to
them, one would have thought that he was the deaf and dumb
alphabet incarnated.  Whether my tormentor yielded to Toby's
entreaties, or paused from sheer exhaustion, I do not know; but
all at once he ceased his operations, and at the same time the
chief relinquishing his hold upon me, I fell back, faint and
breathless with the agony I had endured.

My unfortunate limb was now left much in the same condition as a
rump-steak after undergoing the castigating process which
precedes cooking.  My physician, having recovered from the
fatigues of his exertions, as if anxious to make amends for the
pain to which he had subjected me, now took some herbs out of a
little wallet that was suspended from his waist, and moistening
them in water, applied them to the inflamed part, stooping over
it at the same time, and either whispering a spell, or having a
little confidential chat with some imaginary demon located in the
calf of my leg.  My limb was now swathed in leafy bandages, and
grateful to Providence for the cessation of hostilities, I was
suffered to rest.

Mehevi shortly after rose to depart; but before he went he spoke
authoritatively to one of the natives whom he addressed as
Kory-Kory; and from the little I could understand of what took
place, pointed him out to me as a man whose peculiar business
thenceforth would be to attend upon my person.  I am not certain
that I comprehended as much as this at the time, but the
subsequent conduct of my trusty body-servant fully assured me
that such must have been the case.

I could not but be amused at the manner in which the chief
addressed me upon this occasion, talking to me for at least
fifteen or twenty minutes as calmly as if I could understand
every word that he said.  I remarked this peculiarity very often
afterwards in many other of the islanders.

Mehevi having now departed, and the family physician having
likewise made his exit, we were left about sunset with ten or
twelve natives, who by this time I had ascertained composed the
household of which Toby and I were members.  As the dwelling to
which we had been first introduced was the place of my permanent
abode while I remained in the valley, and as I was necessarily
placed upon the most intimate footing with its occupants, I may
as well here enter into a little description of it and its
inhabitants.  This description will apply also to nearly all the
other dwelling-places in the vale, and will furnish some idea of
the generality of the natives.

Near one side of the valley, and about midway up the ascent of a
rather abrupt rise of ground waving with the richest verdure, a
number of large stones were laid in successive courses, to the
height of nearly eight feet, and disposed in such a manner that
their level surface corresponded in shape with the habitation
which was perched upon it.  A narrow space, however, was reserved
in front of the dwelling, upon the summit of this pile of stones
(called by the natives a 'pi-pi'), which being enclosed by a
little picket of canes, gave it somewhat the appearance of a
verandah.  The frame of the house was constructed of large
bamboos planted uprightly, and secured together at intervals by
transverse stalks of the light wood of the habiscus, lashed with
thongs of bark.  The rear of the tenement--built up with
successive ranges of cocoanut boughs bound one upon another, with
their leaflets cunningly woven together--inclined a little from
the vertical, and extended from the extreme edge of the 'pi-pi'
to about twenty feet from its surface; whence the shelving
roof--thatched with the long tapering leaves of the
palmetto--sloped steeply off to within about five feet of the
floor; leaving the eaves drooping with tassel-like appendages
over the front of the habitation.  This was constructed of light
and elegant canes in a kind of open screenwork, tastefully
adorned with bindings of variegated sinnate, which served to hold
together its various parts.  The sides of the house were
similarly built; thus presenting three quarters for the
circulation of the air, while the whole was impervious to the
rain.

In length this picturesque building was perhaps twelve yards,
while in breadth it could not have exceeded as many feet.  So
much for the exterior; which, with its wire-like reed-twisted
sides, not a little reminded me of an immense aviary.

Stooping a little, you passed.  through a narrow aperture in its
front; and facing you, on entering, lay two long, perfectly
straight, and well-polished trunks of the cocoanut tree,
extending the full length of the dwelling; one of them placed
closely against the rear, and the other lying parallel with it
some two yards distant, the interval between them being spread
with a multitude of gaily-worked mats, nearly all of a different
pattern.  This space formed the common couch and lounging place
of the natives, answering the purpose of a divan in Oriental
countries.  Here would they slumber through the hours of the
night, and recline luxuriously during the greater part of the
day.  The remainder of the floor presented only the cool shining
surfaces of the large stones of which the 'pi-pi' was composed.

From the ridge-pole of the house hung suspended a number of large
packages enveloped in coarse tappa; some of which contained
festival dresses, and various other matters of the wardrobe, held
in high estimation.  These were easily accessible by means of a
line, which, passing over the ridge-pole, had one end attached to
a bundle, while with the other, which led to the side of the
dwelling and was there secured, the package could be lowered or
elevated at pleasure.

Against the farther wall of the house were arranged in tasteful
figures a variety of spears and javelins, and other implements of
savage warfare.  Outside of the habitation, and built upon the
piazza-like area in its front, was a little shed used as a sort
of larder or pantry, and in which were stored various articles of
domestic use and convenience.  A few yards from the pi-pi was a
large shed built of cocoanut boughs, where the process of
preparing the 'poee-poee' was carried on, and all culinary
operations attended to.

Thus much for the house, and its appurtenances; and it will be
readily acknowledged that a more commodious and appropriate
dwelling for the climate and the people could not possibly be
devised.  It was cool, free to admit the air, scrupulously clean,
and elevated above the dampness and impurities of the ground.

But now to sketch the inmates; and here I claim for my tried
servitor and faithful valet Kory-Kory the precedence of a first
description.  As his character will be gradually unfolded in the
course of my narrative, I shall for the present content myself
with delineating his personal appearance.  Kory-Kory, though the
most devoted and best natured serving-man in the world, was,
alas!  a hideous object to look upon.  He was some twenty-five
years of age, and about six feet in height, robust and well made,
and of the most extraordinary aspect.  His head was carefully
shaven with the exception of two circular spots, about the size
of a dollar, near the,top of the cranium, where the hair,
permitted to grow of an amazing length, was twisted up in two
prominent knots, that gave him the appearance of being decorated
with a pair of horns.  His beard, plucked out by the root from
every other part of his face, was suffered to droop in hairy
pendants, two of which garnished his under lip, and an equal
number hung from the extremity of his chin.

Kory-Kory, with a view of improving the handiwork of nature, and
perhaps prompted by a desire to add to the engaging expression of
his countenance, had seen fit to embellish his face with three
broad longitudinal stripes of tattooing, which, like those
country roads that go straight forward in defiance of all
obstacles, crossed his nasal organ, descended into the hollow of
his eyes, and even skirted the borders of his mouth.  Each
completely spanned his physiognomy; one extending in a line with
his eyes, another crossing the face in the vicinity of the nose,
and the third sweeping along his lips from ear to ear.  His
countenance thus triply hooped, as it were, with tattooing,
always reminded me of those unhappy wretches whom I have
sometimes observed gazing out sentimentally from behind the
grated bars of a prison window; whilst the entire body of my
savage valet, covered all over with representations of birds and
fishes, and a variety of most unaccountable-looking creatures,
suggested to me the idea of a pictorial museum of natural
history, or an illustrated copy of 'Goldsmith's Animated Nature.'

But it seems really heartless in me to write thus of the poor
islander, when I owe perhaps to his unremitting attentions the
very existence I now enjoy.  Kory-Kory, I mean thee no harm in
what I say in regard to thy outward adornings; but they were a
little curious to my unaccustomed sight, and therefore I dilate
upon them.  But to underrate or forget thy faithful services is
something I could never be guilty of, even in the giddiest moment
of my life.

The father of my attached follower was a native of gigantic
frame, and had once possessed prodigious physical powers; but the
lofty form was now yielding to the inroads of time, though the
hand of disease seemed never to have been laid upon the aged
warrior.  Marheyo--for such was his name--appeared to have
retired from all active participation in the affairs of the
valley, seldom or never accompanying the natives in their various
expeditions; and employing the greater part of his time in
throwing up a little shed just outside the house, upon which he
was engaged to my certain knowledge for four months, without
appearing to make any sensible advance.  I suppose the old
gentleman was in his dotage, for he manifested in various ways
the characteristics which mark this particular stage of life.

I remember in particular his having a choice pair of
ear-ornaments, fabricated from the teeth of some sea-monster.  
These he would alternately wear and take off at least fifty times
in the course of the day, going and coming from his little hut on
each occasion with all the tranquillity imaginable.  Sometimes
slipping them through the slits in his ears, he would seize his
spear--which in length and slightness resembled a
fishing-pole--and go stalking beneath the shadows of the
neighbouring groves, as if about to give a hostile meeting to
some cannibal knight.  But he would soon return again, and hiding
his weapon under the projecting eaves of the house, and rolling
his clumsy trinkets carefully in a piece of tappa, would resume
his more pacific operations as quietly as if he had never
interrupted them.

But despite his eccentricities, Marheyo was a most paternal and
warm-hearted old fellow, and in this particular not a little
resembled his son Kory-Kory.  The mother of the latter was the
mistress of the family, and a notable housewife, and a most
industrious old lady she was.  If she did not understand the art
of making jellies, jams, custard, tea-cakes, and such like trashy
affairs, she was profoundly skilled in the mysteries of preparing
'amar', 'poee-poee', and 'kokoo', with other substantial matters.

She was a genuine busy-body; bustling about the house like a
country landlady at an unexpected arrival; for ever giving the
young girls tasks to perform, which the little hussies as often
neglected; poking into every corner, and rummaging over bundles
of old tappa, or making a prodigious clatter among the
calabashes.  Sometimes she might have been seen squatting upon
her haunches in front of a huge wooden basin, and kneading
poee-poee with terrific vehemence, dashing the stone pestle about
as if she would shiver the vessel into fragments; on other
occasions, galloping about the valley in search of a particular
kind of leaf, used in some of her recondite operations, and
returning home, toiling and sweating, with a bundle of it, under
which most women would have sunk.

To tell the truth, Kory-Kory's mother was the only industrious
person in all the valley of Typee; and she could not have
employed herself more actively had she been left an exceedingly
muscular and destitute widow, with an inordinate ate supply of
young children, in the bleakest part of the civilized world.  
There was not the slightest necessity for the greater portion of
the labour performed by the old lady: but she seemed to work from
some irresistible impulse; her limbs continually swaying to and
fro, as if there were some indefatigable engine concealed within
her body which kept her in perpetual motion.

Never suppose that she was a termagant or a shrew for all this;
she had the kindliest heart in the world, and acted towards me in
particular in a truly maternal manner, occasionally putting some
little morsel of choice food,into my hand, some outlandish kind
of savage sweetmeat or pastry, like a doting mother petting a
sickly urchin with tarts and sugar plums.  Warm indeed are my
remembrances of the dear, good, affectionate old Tinor!

Besides the individuals I have mentioned, there belonged to the
household three young men, dissipated, good-for-nothing,
roystering blades of savages, who were either employed in
prosecuting love affairs with the maidens of the tribe, or grew
boozy on 'arva' and tobacco in the company of congenial spirits,
the scapegraces of the valley.

Among the permanent inmates of the house were likewise several
lovely damsels, who instead of thrumming pianos and reading
hovels, like more enlightened young ladies, substituted for these
employments the manufacture of a fine species of tappa; but for
the greater portion of the time were skipping from house to
house, gadding and gossiping with their acquaintances.

From the rest of these, however, I must except the beauteous
nymph Fayaway, who was my peculiar favourite.  Her free pliant
figure was the very perfection of female grace and beauty.  Her
complexion was a rich and mantling olive, and when watching the
glow upon her cheeks I could almost swear that beneath the
transparent medium there lurked the blushes of a faint vermilion.

The face of this girl was a rounded oval, and each feature as
perfectly formed as the heart or imagination of man could desire.

Her full lips, when parted with a smile, disclosed teeth of
dazzling whiteness and when her rosy mouth opened with a burst of
merriment, they looked like the milk-white seeds of the 'arta,' a
fruit of the valley, which, when cleft in twain, shows them
reposing in rows on each side, imbedded in the red and juicy
pulp.  Her hair of the deepest brown, parted irregularly in the
middle, flowed in natural ringlets over her shoulders, and
whenever she chanced to stoop, fell over and hid from view her
lovely bosom.  Gazing into the depths of her strange blue eyes,
when she was in a contemplative mood, they seemed most placid yet
unfathomable; but when illuminated by some lively emotion, they
beamed upon the beholder like stars.  The hands of Fayaway were
as soft and delicate as those of any countess; for an entire
exemption from rude labour marks the girlhood and even prime of a
Typee woman's life.  Her feet, though wholly exposed, were as
diminutive and fairly shaped as those which peep from beneath the
skirts of a Lima lady's dress.  The skin of this young creature,
from continual ablutions and the use of mollifying ointments, was
inconceivably smooth and soft.

I may succeed, perhaps, in particularizing some of the individual
features of Fayaway's beauty, but that general loveliness of
appearance which they all contributed to produce I will not
attempt to describe.  The easy unstudied graces of a child of
nature like this, breathing from infancy an atmosphere of
perpetual summer, and nurtured by the simple fruits of the earth;
enjoying a perfect freedom from care and anxiety, and removed
effectually from all injurious tendencies, strike the eye in a
manner which cannot be pourtrayed.  This picture is no fancy
sketch; it is drawn from the most vivid recollections of the
person delineated.

Were I asked if the beauteous form of Fayaway was altogether free
from the hideous blemish of tattooing, I should be constrained to
answer that it was not.  But the practitioners of the barbarous
art, so remorseless in their inflictions upon the brawny limbs of
the warriors of the tribe, seem to be conscious that it needs not
the resources of their profession to augment the charms of the
maidens of the vale.

The females are very little embellished in this way, and Fayaway,
and all the other young girls of her age, were even less so than
those of their sex more advanced in years.  The reason of this
peculiarity will be alluded to hereafter.  All the tattooing that
the nymph in question exhibited upon her person may be easily
described.  Three minute dots, no bigger than pin-heads,
decorated each lip, and at a little distance were not at all
discernible.  Just upon the fall of the shoulder were drawn two
parallel lines half an inch apart, and perhaps three inches in
length, the interval being filled with delicately executed
figures.  These narrow bands of tattooing, thus placed, always
reminded me of those stripes of gold lace worn by officers in
undress, and which are in lieu of epaulettes to denote their
rank.

Thus much was Fayaway tattooed.  The audacious hand which had
gone so far in its desecrating work stopping short, apparently
wanting the heart to proceed.

But I have omitted to describe the dress worn by this nymph of
the valley.

Fayaway--I must avow the fact--for the most part clung to the
primitive and summer garb of Eden.  But how becoming the costume!

It showed her fine figure to the best possible advantage; and
nothing could have been better adapted to her peculiar style of
beauty.  On ordinary occasions she was habited precisely as I
have described the two youthful savages whom we had met on first
entering the valley.  At other times, when rambling among the
groves, or visiting at the houses of her acquaintances, she wore
a tunic of white tappa, reaching from her waist to a little below
the knees; and when exposed for any length of time to the sun,
she invariably protected herself from its rays by a floating
mantle of--the same material, loosely gathered about the person.  
Her gala dress will be described hereafter.

As the beauties of our own land delight in bedecking themselves
with fanciful articles of jewellery, suspending them from their
ears, hanging them about their necks, and clasping them around
their wrists; so Fayaway and her companions were in the habit of
ornamenting themselves with similar appendages.

Flora was their jeweller.  Sometimes they wore necklaces of small
carnation flowers, strung like rubies upon a fibre of tappa, or
displayed in their ears a single white bud, the stem thrust
backward through the aperture, and showing in front the delicate
petals folded together in a beautiful sphere, and looking like a
drop of the purest pearl.  Chaplets too, resembling in their
arrangement the strawberry coronal worn by an English peeress,
and composed of intertwined leaves and blossoms, often crowned
their temples; and bracelets and anklets of the same tasteful
pattern were frequently to be seen.  Indeed, the maidens of the
island were passionately fond of flowers, and never wearied of
decorating their persons with them; a lovely trait in their
character, and one that ere long will be more fully alluded to.

Though in my eyes, at least, Fayaway was indisputably the
loveliest female I saw in Typee, yet the description I have given
of her will in some measure apply to nearly all the youthful
portion of her sex in the valley.  Judge ye then, reader, what
beautiful creatures they must have been.



CHAPTER TWELVE

OFFICIOUSNESS OF KORY-KORY--HIS DEVOTION--A BATH IN THE
STREAM--WANT OF REFINEMENT OF THE TYPEE DAMSELS--STROLL WITH
MEHEVI--A TYPEE HIGHWAY--THE TABOO GROVES--THE HOOLAH HOOLAH
GROUND--THE TI--TIMEWORN SAVAGES--HOSPITALITY OF MEHEVI--MIDNIGHT
MUSINGS--ADVENTURES IN THE DARK--DISTINGUISHED HONOURS PAID TO
THE VISITORS--STRANGE PROCESSION AND RETURN TO THE HOUSE OF
MARHEYO

WHEN Mehevi had departed from the house, as related in the
preceding chapter, Kory-Kory commenced the functions of the post
assigned him.  He brought out, various kinds of food; and, as if
I were an infant, insisted upon feeding me with his own hands. 
To this procedure I, of course, most earnestly objected, but in
vain; and having laid a calabash of kokoo before me, he washed
his fingers in a vessel of water, and then putting his hands into
the dish and rolling the food into little balls, put them one
after another into my mouth.  All my remonstrances against this
measure only provoked so great a clamour on his part, that I was
obliged to acquiesce; and the operation of feeding being thus
facilitated, the meal was quickly despatched.  As for Toby, he
was allowed to help himself after his own fashion.

The repast over, my attendant arranged the mats for repose, and,
bidding me lie down, covered me with a large robe of tappa, at
the same time looking approvingly upon me, and exclaiming 'Ki-Ki,
nuee nuee, ah!  moee moee motarkee' (eat plenty, ah!  sleep very
good).  The philosophy of this sentiment I did not pretend to
question; for deprived of sleep for several preceding nights, and
the pain of my limb having much abated, I now felt inclined to
avail myself of the opportunity afforded me.

The next morning, on waking, I found Kory-Kory stretched out on
one side of me, while my companion lay upon the other.  I felt
sensibly refreshed after a night of sound repose, and immediately
agreed to the proposition of my valet that I should repair to the
water and wash, although dreading the suffering that the exertion
might produce.  From this apprehension, however, I was quickly
relieved; for Kory-Kory, leaping from the pi-pi, and then backing
himself up against it, like a porter in readiness to shoulder a
trunk, with loud vociferations and a superabundance of gestures,
gave me to understand that I was to mount upon his back and be
thus transported to the stream, which flowed perhaps two hundred
yards from the house.

Our appearance upon the verandah in front of the habitation drew
together quite a crowd, who stood looking on and conversing with
one another in the most animated manner.  They reminded one of a
group of idlers gathered about the door of a village tavern when
the equipage of some distinguished traveller is brought round
previously to his departure.  As soon as I clasped my arms about
the neck of the devoted fellow, and he jogged off with me, the
crowd--composed chiefly of young girls and boys--followed after,
shouting and capering with infinite glee, and accompanied us to
the banks of the stream.

On gaining it, Kory-Kory, wading up to his hips in the water,
carried me half way across, and deposited me on a smooth black
stone which rose a few inches above the surface.  The amphibious
rabble at our heels plunged in after us, and climbing to the
summit of the grass-grown rocks with which the bed of the brook
was here and there broken, waited curiously to witness our
morning ablutions.

Somewhat embarrassed by the presence of the female portion of the
company, and feeling my cheeks burning with bashful timidity, I
formed a primitive basin by joining my hands together, and cooled
my blushes in the water it contained; then removing my frock,
bent over and washed myself down to my waist in the stream.  As
soon as Kory-Kory comprehended from my motions that this was to
be the extent of my performance, he appeared perfectly aghast
with astonishment, and rushing towards me, poured out a torrent
of words in eager deprecation of so limited an operation,
enjoining me by unmistakeable signs to immerse my whole body.  To
this I was forced to consent; and the honest fellow regarding me
as a froward, inexperienced child, whom it was his duty to serve
at the risk of offending, lifted me from the rocks, and tenderly
bathed my limbs.  This over, and resuming my seat, I could not
avoid bursting into admiration of the scene around me.

From the verdant surfaces of the large stones that lay scattered
about, the natives were now sliding off into the water, diving
and ducking beneath the surface in all directions--the young
girls springing buoyantly into the air, and revealing their naked
forms to the waist, with their long tresses dancing about their
shoulders, their eyes sparkling like drops of dew in the sun, and
their gay laughter pealing forth at every frolicsome incident. 
On the afternoon of the day that I took my first bath in the
valley, we received another visit from Mehevi.  The noble savage
seemed to be in the same pleasant mood, and was quite as cordial
in his manner as before.  After remaining about an hour, he rose
from the mats, and motioning to leave the house, invited Toby and
myself to accompany him.  I pointed to my leg; but Mehevi in his
turn pointed to Kory-Kory, and removed that objection; so,
mounting upon the faithful fellow's shoulders again--like the old
man of the sea astride of Sindbad--I followed after the chief.

The nature of the route we now pursued struck me more forcibly
than anything I had yet seen, as illustrating the indolent
disposition of the islanders.  The path was obviously the most
beaten one in the valley, several others leading from each side
into it, and perhaps for successive generations it had formed the
principal avenue of the place.  And yet, until I grew more
familiar with its impediments, it seemed as difficult to travel
as the recesses of a wilderness.  Part of it swept around an
abrupt rise.  of ground, the surface of which was broken by
frequent inequalities, and thickly strewn with projecting masses
of rocks, whose summits were often hidden from view by the
drooping foliage of the luxurious vegetation.  Sometimes directly
over, sometimes evading these obstacles with a wide circuit, the
path wound along;--one moment climbing over a sudden eminence
smooth with continued wear, then descending on the other side
into a steep glen, and crossing the flinty channel of a brook.
Here it pursued the depths of a glade, occasionally obliging you
to stoop beneath vast horizontal branches; and now you stepped
over huge trunks and boughs that lay rotting across the track.

Such was the grand thoroughfare of Typee.  After proceeding a
little distance along it--Kory-Kory panting and blowing with the
weight of his burden--I dismounted from his back, and grasping
the long spear of Mehevi in my hand, assisted my steps over the
numerous obstacles of the road; preferring this mode of advance
to one which, from the difficulties of the way, was equally
painful to myself and my wearied servitor.

Our journey was soon at an end; for, scaling a sudden height, we
came abruptly upon the place of our destination.  I wish that it
were possible to sketch in words this spot as vividly as I
recollect it.

Here were situated the Taboo groves of the valley--the scene of
many a prolonged feast, of many a horrid rite.  Beneath the dark
shadows of the consecrated bread-fruit trees there reigned a
solemn twilight--a cathedral-like gloom.  The frightful genius of
pagan worship seemed to brood in silence over the place,
breathing its spell upon every object around.  Here and there, in
the depths of these awful shades, half screened from sight by
masses of overhanging foliage, rose the idolatrous altars of the
savages, built of enormous blocks of black and polished stone,
placed one upon another, without cement, to the height of twelve
or fifteen feet, and surmounted by a rustic open temple, enclosed
with a low picket of canes, within which might be seen, in
various stages of decay, offerings of bread-fruit and cocoanuts,
and the putrefying relics of some recent sacrifice.

In the midst of the wood was the hallowed 'Hoolah Hoolah'
ground--set apart for the celebration of the fantastical
religious ritual of these people--comprising an extensive oblong
pi-pi, terminating at either end in a lofty terraced altar,
guarded by ranks of hideous wooden idols, and with the two
remaining sides flanked by ranges of bamboo sheds, opening
towards the interior of the quadrangle thus formed.  Vast trees,
standing in the middle of this space, and throwing over it an
umbrageous shade, had their massive trunks built round with
slight stages, elevated a few feet above the ground, and railed
in with canes, forming so many rustic pulpits, from which the
priests harangued their devotees.

This holiest of spots was defended from profanation by the
strictest edicts of the all-pervading 'taboo', which condemned to
instant death the sacrilegious female who should enter or touch
its sacred precincts, or even so much as press with her feet the
ground made holy by the shadows that it cast.

Access was had to the enclosure through an embowered entrance, on
one side, facing a number of towering cocoanut trees, planted at
intervals along a level area of a hundred yards.  At the further
extremity of this space was to be seen a building of considerable
size, reserved for the habitation of the priests and religious
attendants of the groves.

In its vicinity was another remarkable edifice, built as usual
upon the summit of a pi-pi, and at least two hundred feet in
length, though not more than twenty in breadth.  The whole front
of this latter structure was completely open, and from one end to
the other ran a narrow verandah, fenced in on the edge of the
pi-pi with a picket of canes.  Its interior presented the
appearance of an immense lounging place, the entire floor being
strewn with successive layers of mats, lying between parallel
trunks of cocoanut trees, selected for the purpose from the
straightest and most symmetrical the vale afforded.

To this building, denominated in the language of the natives the
'Ti', Mehevi now conducted us.  Thus far we had been accompanied
by a troop of the natives of both sexes; but as soon as we
approached its vicinity, the females gradually separated
themselves from the crowd, and standing aloof, permitted us to
pass on.  The merciless prohibitions of the taboo extended
likewise to this edifice, and were enforced by the same dreadful
penalty that secured the Hoolah-Hoolah ground from the imaginary
pollution of a woman's presence.

On entering the house, I was surprised to see six muskets ranged
against the bamboo on one side, from the barrels of which
depended as many small canvas pouches, partly filled with powder.

Disposed about these muskets, like the cutlasses that decorate
the bulkhead of a man-of-war's cabin, were a great variety of
rude spears and paddles, javelins, and war-clubs.  This then,
said I to Toby, must be the armoury of the tribe.

As we advanced further along the building, we were struck with
the aspect of four or five hideous old wretches, on whose
decrepit forms time and tattooing seemed,to have obliterated
every trace of humanity.  Owing to the continued operation of
this latter process, which only terminates among the warriors of
the island after all the figures stretched upon their limbs in
youth have been blended together--an effect, however, produced
only in cases of extreme longevity--the bodies Of these men were
of a uniform dull green colour--the hue which the tattooing
gradually assumes as the individual advances in age.  Their skin
had a frightful scaly appearance, which, united with its singular
colour, made their limbs not a little resemble dusty specimens of
verde-antique.  Their flesh, in parts, hung upon them in huge
folds, like the overlapping plaits on the flank of a rhinoceros.
Their heads were completely bald, whilst their faces were
puckered into a thousand wrinkles, and they presented no vestige
of a beard.  But the most remarkable peculiarity about them was
the appearance of their feet; the toes, like the radiating lines
of the mariner's compass, pointed to every quarter of the
horizon.  This was doubtless attributable to the fact, that
during nearly a hundred years of existence the said toes never
had been subjected to any artificial confinement, and in their
old age, being averse to close neighbourhood, bid one another
keep open order.

These repulsive-looking creatures appeared to have lost the use
of their lower limbs altogether; sitting upon the floor
cross-legged in a state of torpor.  They never heeded us in the
least, scarcely looking conscious of our presence, while Mehevi
seated us upon the mats, and Kory-Kory gave utterance to some
unintelligible gibberish

In a few moments a boy entered with a wooden trencher of
poee-poee; and in regaling myself with its contents I was obliged
again to submit to the officious intervention of my indefatigable
servitor.  Various other dishes followed, the chief manifesting
the most hospitable importunity in pressing us to partake, and to
remove all bashfulness on our part, set us no despicable example
in his own person.

The repast concluded, a pipe was lighted, which passed from mouth
to mouth, and yielding to its soporific influence, the quiet of
the place, and the deepening shadows of approaching night, my
companion and I sank into a kind of drowsy repose, while the
chief and Kory-Kory seemed to be slumbering beside us.

I awoke from an uneasy nap, about midnight, as I supposed; and,
raising myself partly from the mat, became sensible that we were
enveloped in utter darkness.  Toby lay still asleep, but our late
companions had disappeared.  The only sound that interrupted the
silence of the place was the asthmatic breathing of the old men I
have mentioned, who reposed at a little distance from us.  
Besides them, as well as I could judge, there was no one else in
the house.

Apprehensive of some evil, I roused my comrade, and we were
engaged in a whispered conference concerning the unexpected
withdrawal of the natives when all at once, from the depths of
the grove, in full view of us where we lay, shoots of flame were
seen to rise, and in a few moments illuminated the surrounding
trees, casting, by contrast, into still deeper gloom the darkness
around us.

While we continued gazing at this sight, dark figures appeared
moving to and fro before the flames; while others, dancing and
capering about, looked like so many demons.

Regarding this new phenomenon with no small degree of
trepidation, I said to my companion, 'What can all this mean,
Toby?'

'Oh, nothing,' replied he; 'getting the fire ready, I suppose.'

'Fire!' exclaimed I, while my heart took to beating like a trip-
hammer, 'what fire?'

'Why, the fire to cook us, to be sure, what else would the
cannibals be kicking up such a row about if it were not for
that?'

'Oh, Toby!  have done with your jokes; this is no time for them;
something is about to happen, I feel confident.'

'Jokes, indeed?'  exclaimed Toby indignantly.  'Did you ever hear
me joke?  Why, for what do you suppose the devils have been
feeding us up in this kind of style during the last three days,
unless it were for something that you are too much frightened at
to talk about?  Look at that Kory-Kory there!--has he not been
stuffing you with his confounded mushes, just in the way they
treat swine before they kill them?  Depend upon it, we will be
eaten this blessed night, and there is the fire we shall be
roasted by.'

This view of the matter was not at all calculated to allay my
apprehensions, and I shuddered when I reflected that we were
indeed at the mercy of a tribe of cannibals, and that the
dreadful contingency to which Toby had alluded was by no means
removed beyond the bounds of possibility.

'There!  I told you so!  they are coming for us!' exclaimed my
companion the next moment, as the forms of four of the islanders
were seen in bold relief against the illuminated back-ground
mounting the pi-pi and approaching towards us.

They came on noiselessly, nay stealthily, and glided along
through the gloom that surrounded us as if about to spring upon
some object they were fearful of disturbing before they should
make sure of it.--Gracious heaven!  the horrible reflections
which crowded upon me that moment.--A cold sweat stood upon my
brow, and spell-bound with terror I awaited my fate!

Suddenly the silence was broken by the well-remembered tones of
Mehevi, and at the kindly accents of his voice my fears were
immediately dissipated.  'Tommo, Toby, ki ki!' (eat).  He had
waited to address us, until he had assured himself that we were
both awake, at which he seemed somewhat surprised.

'Ki ki!  is it?'  said Toby in his gruff tones; 'Well, cook us
first, will you--but what's this?'  he added, as another savage
appeared, bearing before him a large trencher of wood containing
some kind of steaming meat, as appeared from the odours it
diffused, and which he deposited at the feet of Mehevi.  'A baked
baby, I dare say I but I will have none of it, never mind what it
is.--A pretty fool I should make of myself, indeed, waked up here
in the middle of the night, stuffing and guzzling, and all to
make a fat meal for a parcel of booby-minded cannibals one of
these mornings!--No, I see what they are at very plainly, so I am
resolved to starve myself into a bunch of bones and gristle, and
then, if they serve me up, they are welcome!  But I say, Tommo,
you are not going to eat any of that mess there, in the dark, are
you?  Why, how can you tell what it is?'

'By tasting it, to be sure,' said I, masticating a morsel that
Kory-Kory had just put in my mouth, 'and excellently good it is,
too, very much like veal.'

'A baked baby, by the soul of Captain Cook!' burst forth Toby,
with amazing vehemence; 'Veal?  why there never was a calf on the
island till you landed.  I tell you you are bolting down
mouthfuls from a dead Happar's carcass, as sure as you live, and
no mistake!'

Emetics and lukewarm water!  What a sensation in the abdominal
region!  Sure enough, where could the fiends incarnate have
obtained meat?  But I resolved to satisfy myself at all hazards;
and turning to Mehevi, I soon made the ready chief understand
that I wished a light to be brought.  When the taper came, I
gazed eagerly into the vessel, and recognized the mutilated
remains of a juvenile porker!  'Puarkee!' exclaimed Kory-Kory,
looking complacently at the dish; and from that day to this I
have never forgotten that such is the designation of a pig in the
Typee lingo.

The next morning, after being again abundantly feasted by the
hospitable Mehevi, Toby and myself arose to depart.  But the
chief requested us to postpone our intention.  'Abo, abo' (Wait,
wait), he said and accordingly we resumed our seats, while,
assisted by the zealous Kory-Kory, he appeared to be engaged in
giving directions to a number of the natives outside, who were
busily employed in making arrangements, the nature of which we
could not comprehend.  But we were not left long in our
ignorance, for a few moments only had elapsed, when the chief
beckoned us to approach, and we perceived that he had been
marshalling a kind of guard of honour to escort us on our return
to the house of Marheyo.

The procession was led off by two venerable-looking savages, each
provided with a spear, from the end of which streamed a pennon of
milk-white tappa.  After them went several youths, bearing aloft
calabashes of poee-poee, and followed in their turn by four
stalwart fellows, sustaining long bamboos, from the tops of which
hung suspended, at least twenty feet from the ground, large
baskets of green bread-fruits.  Then came a troop of boys,
carrying bunches of ripe bananas, and baskets made of the woven
leaflets of cocoanut boughs, filled with the young fruit of the
tree, the naked shells stripped of their husks peeping forth from
the verdant wicker-work that surrounded them.  Last of all came a
burly islander, holding over his head a wooden trencher, in which
lay disposed the remnants of our midnight feast, hidden from
view, however, by a covering of bread-fruit leaves.

Astonished as I was at this exhibition, I could not avoid smiling
at its grotesque appearance, and the associations it naturally
called up.  Mehevi, it seemed, was bent on replenishing old
Marheyo's larder, fearful perhaps that without this precaution
his guests might not fare as well as they could desire.

As soon as I descended from the pi-pi, the procession formed
anew, enclosing us in its centre; where I remained part of the
time, carried by Kory-Kory, and occasionally relieving him from
his burden by limping along with spear.  When we moved off in
this order, the natives struck up a musical recitative, which
with various alternations, they continued until we arrived at the
place of our destination.

As we proceeded on our way, bands of young girls, darting from
the surrounding groves, hung upon our skirts, and accompanied us
with shouts of merriment and delight, which almost drowned the
deep notes of the recitative.  On approaching old Marheyo's
domicile, its inmates rushed out to receive us; and while the
gifts of Mehevi were being disposed of, the superannuated warrior
did the honours of his mansion with all the warmth of hospitality
evinced by an English squire when he regales his friends at some
fine old patrimonial mansion.



CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ATTEMPT TO PROCURE RELIEF FROM NUKUHEVA--PERILOUS ADVENTURE OF
TOBY IN THE HAPPAR MOUNTAINS--ELOQUENCE OF KORY-KORY

AMIDST these novel scenes a week passed away almost
imperceptibly.  The natives, actuated by some mysterious impulse,
day after day redoubled their attentions to us.  Their manner
towards us was unaccountable.  Surely, thought I, they would not
act thus if they meant us any harm.  But why this excess of
deferential kindness, or what equivalent can they imagine us
capable of rendering them for it?

We were fairly puzzled.  But despite the apprehensions I could
not dispel, the horrible character imputed to these Typees
appeared to be wholly undeserved.

'Why, they are cannibals!' said Toby on one occasion when I
eulogized the tribe.  'Granted,' I replied, 'but a more humane,
gentlemanly and amiable set of epicures do not probably exist in
the Pacific.'

But, notwithstanding the kind treatment we received, I was too
familiar with the fickle disposition of savages not to feel
anxious to withdraw from the valley, and put myself beyond the
reach of that fearful death which, under all these smiling
appearances, might yet menace us.  But here there was an obstacle
in the way of doing so.  It was idle for me to think of moving
from the place until I should have recovered from the severe
lameness that afflicted me; indeed my malady began seriously to
alarm me; for, despite the herbal remedies of the natives, it
continued to grow worse and worse.  Their mild applications,
though they soothed the pain, did not remove the disorder, and I
felt convinced that without better aid I might anticipate long
and acute suffering.

But how was this aid to be procured?  From the surgeons of the
French fleet, which probably still lay in the bay of Nukuheva, it
might easily have been obtained, could I have made my case known
to them.  But how could that be effected?

At last, in the exigency to which I was reduced, I proposed to
Toby that he should endeavour to go round to Nukuheva, and if he
could not succeed in returning to the valley by water, in one of
the boats of the squadron, and taking me off, he might at least
procure me some proper medicines, and effect his return overland.

My companion listened to me in silence, and at first did not
appear to relish the idea.  The truth was, he felt impatient to
escape from the place, and wished to avail himself of our present
high favour with the natives to make good our retreat, before we
should experience some sudden alteration in their behaviour.  As
he could not think of leaving me in my helpless condition, he
implored me to be of good cheer; assured me that I should soon be
better, and enabled in a few days to return with him to Nukuheva.

Added to this, he could not bear the idea of again returning to
this dangerous place; and as for the expectation of persuading
the Frenchmen to detach a boat's crew for the purpose of rescuing
me from the Typees, he looked upon it as idle; and with arguments
that I could not answer, urged the improbability of their
provoking the hostilities of the clan by any such measure;
especially, as for the purpose of quieting its apprehensions,
they had as yet refrained from making any visit to the bay.  'And
even should they consent,' said Toby, 'they would only produce a
commotion in the valley, in which we might both be sacrificed by
these ferocious islanders.'  This was unanswerable; but still I
clung to the belief that he might succeed in accomplishing the
other part of my plan; and at last I overcame his scruples, and
he agreed to make the attempt.

As soon as we succeeded in making the natives understand our
intention, they broke out into the most vehement opposition to
the measure, and for a while I almost despaired of obtaining
their consent.  At the bare thought of one of us leaving them,
they manifested the most lively concern.  The grief and
consternation of Kory-Kory, in particular, was unbounded; he
threw himself into a perfect paroxysm of gestures which were
intended to convey to us not only his abhorrence of Nukuheva and
its uncivilized inhabitants, but also his astonishment that after
becoming acquainted with the enlightened Typees, we should evince
the least desire to withdraw, even for a time, from their
agreeable society.

However, I overbore his objections by appealing to my lameness;
from which I assured the natives I should speedily recover if
Toby were permitted to obtain the supplies I needed.

It was agreed that on the following morning my companion should
depart, accompanied by some one or two of the household, who
should point out to him an easy route, by which the bay might be
reached before sunset.

At early dawn of the next day, our habitation was astir.  One of
the young men mounted into an adjoining cocoanut tree, and threw
down a number of the young fruit, which old Marheyo quickly
stripped of the green husks, and strung together upon a short
pole.  These were intended to refresh Toby on his route.

The preparations being completed, with no little emotion I bade
my companion adieu.  He promised to return in three days at
farthest; and, bidding me keep up my spirits in the interval,
turned round the corner of the pi-pi, and, under the guidance of
the venerable Marheyo, was soon out of sight.  His departure
oppressed me with melancholy, and, re-entering the dwelling, I
threw myself almost in despair upon the matting of the floor.

In two hours' time the old warrior returned, and gave me to
understand that after accompanying my companion a little
distance, and showing him the route, he had left him journeying
on his way.

It was about noon of this same day, a season which these people
are wont to pass in sleep, that I lay in the house, surrounded by
its slumbering inmates, and painfully affected by the strange
silence which prevailed.  All at once I thought I heard a faint
shout, as if proceeding from some persons in the depth of the
grove which extended in front of our habitation.

The sounds grew louder and nearer, and gradually the whole valley
rang with wild outcries.  The sleepers around me started to their
feet in alarm, and hurried outside to discover the cause of the
commotion.  Kory-Kory, who had been the first to spring up, soon
returned almost breathless, and nearly frantic with the
excitement under which he seemed to be labouring.  All that I
could understand from him was that some accident had happened to
Toby.  Apprehensive of some dreadful calamity, I rushed out of
the house, and caught sight of a tumultuous crowd, who, with
shrieks and lamentations, were just emerging from the grove
bearing in their arms some object, the sight of which produced
all this transport of sorrow.  As they drew near, the men
redoubled their cries, while the girls, tossing their bare arms
in the air, exclaimed plaintively, 'Awha!  awha!  Toby mukee
moee!'--Alas!  alas!  Toby is killed!

In a moment the crowd opened, and disclosed the apparently
lifeless body of my companion home between two men, the head
hanging heavily against the breast of the foremost.  The whole
face, neck, back, and bosom were covered with blood, which still
trickled slowly from a wound behind the temple.  In the midst of
the greatest uproar and confusion the body was carried into the
house and laid on a mat.  Waving the natives off to give room and
air, I bent eagerly over Toby, and, laying my hand upon the
breast, ascertained that the heart still beat.  Overjoyed at
this, I seized a calabash of water, and dashed its contents upon
his face, then wiping away the blood, anxiously examined the
wound.   It was about three inches long, and on removing the
clotted hair from about it, showed the skull laid completely
bare.  Immediately with my knife I cut away the heavy locks, and
bathed the part repeatedly in water.

In a few moments Toby revived, and opening his eyes for a
second--closed them again without speaking.  Kory-Kory, who had
been kneeling beside me, now chafed his limbs gently with the
palms of his hands, while a young girl at his head kept fanning
him, and I still continued to moisten his lips and brow.  Soon my
poor comrade showed signs of animation, and I succeeded in making
him swallow from a cocoanut shell a few mouthfuls of water.

Old Tinor now appeared, holding in her hand some simples she had
gathered, the juice of which she by signs besought me to squeeze
into the wound.  Having done so, I thought it best to leave Toby
undisturbed until he should have had time to rally his faculties.
Several times he opened his lips, but fearful for his safety I
enjoined silence.  In the course of two or three hours, however,
he sat up, and was sufficiently recovered to tell me what had
occurred.

'After leaving the house with Marheyo,' said Toby, 'we struck
across the valley, and ascended the opposite heights.  Just
beyond them, my guide informed me, lay the valley of Happar,
while along their summits, and skirting the head of the vale, was
my route to Nukuheva.  After mounting a little way up the
elevation my guide paused, and gave me to understand that he
could not accompany me any farther, and by various signs
intimated that he was afraid to approach any nearer the
territories of the enemies of his tribe.  He however pointed out
my path, which now lay clearly before me, and bidding me
farewell, hastily descended the mountain.

'Quite elated at being so near the Happars, I pushed up the
acclivity, and soon gained its summit.  It tapered to a sharp
ridge, from whence I beheld both the hostile valleys.  Here I sat
down and rested for a moment, refreshing myself with my
cocoanuts.  I was soon again pursuing my way along the height,
when suddenly I saw three of the islanders, who must have just
come out of Happar valley, standing in the path ahead of me.  
They were each armed with a heavy spear, and one from his
appearance I took to be a chief.  They sung out something, I
could not understand what, and beckoned me to come on.

'Without the least hesitation I advanced towards them, and had
approached within about a yard of the foremost, when, pointing
angrily into the Typee valley, and uttering some savage
exclamation, he wheeled round his weapon like lightning, and
struck me in a moment to the ground.  The blow inflicted this
wound, and took away my senses.  As soon as I came to myself, I
perceived the three islanders standing a little distance off, and
apparently engaged in some violent altercation respecting me.

'My first impulse was to run for it; but, in endeavouring to
rise, I fell back, and rolled down a little grassy precipice.  
The shock seemed to rally my faculties; so, starting to my feet,
I fled down the path I had just ascended.  I had no need to look
behind me, for, from the yells I heard, I knew that my enemies
were in full pursuit.  Urged on by their fearful outcries, and
heedless of the injury I had received--though the blood flowing
from the wound trickled over into my eyes and almost blinded
me--I rushed down the mountain side with the speed of the wind.  
In a short time I had descended nearly a third of the distance,
and the savages had ceased their cries, when suddenly a terrific
howl burst upon my ear, and at the same moment a heavy javelin
darted past me as I fled, and stuck quivering in a tree close to
me.  Another yell followed, and a second spear and a third shot
through the air within a few feet of my body, both of them
piercing the ground obliquely in advance of me.  The fellows gave
a roar of rage and disappointment; but they were afraid, I
suppose, of coming down further into the Typee valley, and so
abandoned the chase.  I saw them recover their weapons and turn
back; and I continued my descent as fast as I could.

'What could have caused this ferocious attack on the part of
these Happars I could not imagine, unless it were that they had
seen me ascending the mountain with Marheyo, and that the mere
fact of coming from the Typee valley was sufficient to provoke
them.

'As long as I was in danger I scarcely felt the wound I had
received; but when the chase was over I began to suffer from it.  
I had lost my hat in the flight, and the run scorched my bare
head.  I felt faint and giddy; but, fearful of falling to the
ground beyond the reach of assistance, I staggered on as well as
I could, and at last gained the level of the valley, and then
down I sank; and I knew nothing more until I found myself lying
upon these mats, and you stooping over me with the calabash of
water.'

Such was Toby's account of this sad affair.  I afterwards learned
that, fortunately, he had fallen close to a spot where the
natives go for fuel.  A party of them caught sight of him as he
fell, and sounding the alarm, had lifted him up; and after
ineffectually endeavouring to restore him at the brook, had
hurried forward with him to the house.

This incident threw a dark cloud over our prospects.  It reminded
us that we were hemmed in by hostile tribes, whose territories we
could not hope to pass, on our route to Nukuheva, without
encountering the effects of their savage resentment.  There
appeared to be no avenue opened to our escape but the sea, which
washed the lower extremities of the vale.

Our Typee friends availed themselves of the recent disaster of
Toby to exhort us to a due appreciation of the blessings we
enjoyed among them, contrasting their own generous reception of
us with the animosity of their neighbours.  They likewise dwelt
upon the cannibal propensities of the Happars, a subject which
they were perfectly aware could not fail to alarm us; while at
the same time they earnestly disclaimed all participation in so
horrid a custom.  Nor did they omit to call upon us to admire the
natural loveliness of their own abode, and the lavish abundance
with which it produced all manner of luxuriant fruits; exalting
it in this particular above any of the surrounding valleys.

Kory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse
into our minds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in
his endeavours by the little knowledge of the language we had
acquired, he actually made us comprehend a considerable part of
what he said.  To facilitate our correct apprehension of his
meaning, he at first condensed his ideas into the smallest
possible compass.

'Happar keekeeno nuee,' he exclaimed, 'nuee, nuee, ki ki
kannaka!--ah!  owle motarkee!' which signifies, 'Terrible fellows
those Happars!--devour an amazing quantity of men!--ah, shocking
bad!'  Thus far he explained himself by a variety of gestures,
during the performance of which he would dart out of the house,
and point abhorrently towards the Happar valley; running in to us
again with a rapidity that showed he was fearful he would lose
one part of his meaning before he could complete the other; and
continuing his illustrations by seizing the fleshy part of my arm
in his teeth, intimating by the operation that the people who
lived over in that direction would like nothing better than to
treat me in that manner.

Having assured himself that we were fully enlightened on this
point, he proceeded to another branch of his subject.  'Ah! 
Typee mortakee!--nuee, nuee mioree--nuee, nuee wai--nuee, nuee
poee-poee--nuee, nuee kokoo--ah!  nuee, nuee kiki--ah!  nuee,
nuee, nuee!' Which literally interpreted as before, would imply,
'Ah, Typee!  isn't it a fine place though!--no danger of starving
here, I tell you!--plenty of bread-fruit--plenty of water--plenty
of pudding--ah!  plenty of everything!  ah!  heaps, heaps heaps!' 
All this was accompanied by a running commentary of signs and
gestures which it was impossible not to comprehend.

As he continued his harangue, however, Kory-Kory, in emulation of
our more polished orators, began to launch out rather diffusely
into other branches of his subject, enlarging probably upon the
moral reflections it suggested; and proceeded in such a strain of
unintelligible and stunning gibberish, that he actually gave me
the headache for the rest of the day.



CHAPTER FOURTEEN

A GREAT EVENT HAPPENS IN THE VALLEY--THE ISLAND
TELEGRAPH--SOMETHING BEFALLS TOBY--FAYAWAY DISPLAYS A TENDER
HEART--MELANCHOLY REFLECTIONS--MYSTERIOUS CONDUCT OF THE
ISLANDERS--DEVOTION OF KORY-KORY--A RURAL COUCH--A
LUXURY--KORY-KORY STRIKES A LIGHT A LA TYPEE

IN the course of a few days Toby had recovered from the effects
of his adventure with the Happar warriors; the wound on his head
rapidly healing under the vegetable treatment of the good Tinor.  
Less fortunate than my companion however, I still continued to
languish under a complaint, the origin and nature of which were
still a mystery.  Cut off as I was from all intercourse with the
civilized world, and feeling the inefficacy of anything the
natives could do to relieve me; knowing, too, that so long as I
remained in my present condition, it would be impossible for me
to leave the valley, whatever opportunity might present itself;
and apprehensive that ere long we might be exposed to some
caprice on the part of the islanders, I now gave up all hopes of
recovery, and became a prey to the most gloomy thoughts.  A deep
dejection fell upon me, which neither the friendly remonstrances
of my companion, the devoted attentions of Kory-Kory nor all the
soothing influences of Fayaway could remove.

One morning as I lay on the mats in the house, plunged in
melancholy reverie, and regardless of everything around me, Toby,
who had left me about an hour, returned in haste, and with great
glee told me to cheer up and be of good heart; for he believed,
from what was going on among the natives, that there were boats
approaching the bay.

These tidings operated upon me like magic.  The hour of our
deliverance was at hand, and starting up, I was soon convinced
that something unusual was about to occur.  The word 'botee!
botee!' was vociferated in all directions; and shouts were heard
in the distance, at first feebly and faintly; but growing louder
and nearer at each successive repetition, until they were caught
up by a fellow in a cocoanut tree a few yards off, who sounding
them in turn, they were reiterated from a neighbouring grove, and
so died away gradually from point to point, as the intelligence
penetrated into the farthest recess of the valley.  This was the
vocal telegraph of the islanders; by means of which condensed
items of information could be carried in a very few minutes from
the sea to their remotest habitation, a distance of at least
eight or nine miles.  On the present occasion it was in active
operation; one piece of information following another with
inconceivable rapidity.

The greatest commotion now appeared to prevail.  At every fresh
item of intelligence the natives betrayed the liveliest interest,
and redoubled the energy with which they employed themselves in
collecting fruit to sell to the expected visitors.  Some were
tearing off the husks from cocoanuts; some perched in the trees
were throwing down bread-fruit to their companions, who gathered
them into heaps as they fell; while others were plying their
fingers rapidly in weaving leafen baskets in which to carry the
fruit.

There were other matters too going on at the same time.  Here you
would see a stout warrior polishing his spear with a bit of old
tappa, or adjusting the folds of the girdle about his waist; and
there you might descry a young damsel decorating herself with
flowers, as if having in her eye some maidenly conquest; while,
as in all cases of hurry and confusion in every part of the
world, a number of individuals kept hurrying to and fro, with
amazing vigour and perseverance, doing nothing themselves, and
hindering others.

Never before had we seen the islanders in such a state of bustle
and excitement; and the scene furnished abundant evidence of the
fact--that it was only at long intervals any such events occur.

When I thought of the length of time that might intervene before
a similar chance of escape would be presented, I bitterly
lamented that I had not the power of availing myself effectually
of the present opportunity.

From all that we could gather, it appeared that the natives were
fearful of arriving too late upon the beach, unless they made
extraordinary exertions.  Sick and lame as I was, I would have
started with Toby at once, had not Kory-Kory not only refused to
carry me, but manifested the most invincible repugnance to our
leaving the neighbourhood of the house.  The rest of the savages
were equally opposed to our wishes, and seemed grieved and
astonished at the earnestness of my solicitations.  I clearly
perceived that while my attendant avoided all appearance of
constraining my movements, he was nevertheless determined to
thwart my wishes.  He seemed to me on this particular occasion,
as well as often afterwards, to be executing the orders of some
other person with regard to me, though at the same time feeling
towards me the most lively affection.

Toby, who had made up his mind to accompany the islanders if
possible, as soon as they were in readiness to depart, and who
for that reason had refrained from showing the same anxiety that
I had done, now represented to me that it was idle for me to
entertain the hope of reaching the beach in time to profit by any
opportunity that might then be presented.

'Do you not see,' said he, 'the savages themselves are fearful of
being too late, and I should hurry forward myself at once did I
not think that if I showed too much eagerness I should destroy
all our hopes of reaping any benefit from this fortunate event.  
If you will only endeavour to appear tranquil or unconcerned, you
will quiet their suspicions, and I have no doubt they will then
let me go with them to the beach, supposing that I merely go out
of curiosity.  Should I succeed in getting down to the boats, I
will make known the condition in which I have left you, and
measures may then be taken to secure our escape.'

In the expediency of this I could not but acquiesce; and as the
natives had now completed their preparations, I watched with the
liveliest interest the reception that Toby's application might
meet with.  As soon as they understood from my companion that I
intended to remain, they appeared to make no objection to his
proposition, and even hailed it with pleasure.  Their singular
conduct on this occasion not a little puzzled me at the time, and
imparted to subsequent events an additional mystery.

The islanders were now to be seen hurrying along the path which
led to the sea.  I shook Toby warmly by the hand, and gave him my
Payta hat to shield his wounded head from the sun, as he had lost
his own.  He cordially returned the pressure of my hand, and
solemnly promising to return as soon as the boats should leave
the shore, sprang from my side, and the next minute disappeared
in a turn of the grove.

In spite of the unpleasant reflections that crowded upon my mind,
I could not but be entertained by the novel and animated sight
which by now met my view.  One after another the natives crowded
along the narrow path, laden with every variety of fruit.  Here,
you might have seen one, who, after ineffectually endeavouring to
persuade a surly porker to be conducted in leading strings, was
obliged at last to seize the perverse animal in his arms, and
carry him struggling against his naked breast, and squealing
without intermission.  There went two, who at a little distance
might have been taken for the Hebrew spies, on their return to
Moses with the goodly bunch of grape.  One trotted before the
other at a distance of a couple of yards, while between them,
from a pole resting on the shoulders, was suspended a huge
cluster of bananas, which swayed to and fro with the rocking gait
at which they proceeded.  Here ran another, perspiring with his
exertions, and bearing before him a quantity of cocoanuts, who,
fearful of being too late, heeded not the fruit that dropped from
his basket, and appeared solely intent upon reaching his
destination, careless how many of his cocoanuts kept company with
him.

In a short time the last straggler was seen hurrying on his way,
and the faint shouts of those in advance died insensibly upon the
ear.  Our part of the valley now appeared nearly deserted by its
inhabitants, Kory-Kory, his aged father, and a few decrepit old
people, being all that were left.

Towards sunset the islanders in small parties began to return
from the beach, and among them, as they drew near to the house, I
sought to descry the form of my companion.  But one after another
they passed the dwelling, and I caught no glimpse of him.  
Supposing, however, that he would soon appear with some of the
members of the household, I quieted my apprehensions, and waited
patiently to see him advancing in company with the beautiful
Fayaway.  At last, I perceived Tinor coming forward, followed by
the girls and young men who usually resided in the house of
Marheyo; but with them came not my comrade, and, filled with a
thousand alarms, I eagerly sought to discover the cause of his
delay.

My earnest questions appeared to embarrass the natives greatly.  
All their accounts were contradictory: one giving me to
understand that Toby would be with me in a very short time;
another that he did not know where he was; while a third,
violently inveighing, against him, assured me that he had stolen
away, and would never come back.  It appeared to me, at the time,
that in making these various statements they endeavoured to
conceal from me some terrible disaster, lest the knowledge of it
should overpower me.

Fearful lest some fatal calamity had overtaken him, I sought out
young Fayaway, and endeavoured to learn from her, if possible,
the truth.

This gentle being had early attracted my regard, not only from
her extraordinary beauty, but from the attractive cast of her
countenance, singularly expressive of intelligence and humanity.  
Of all the natives she alone seemed to appreciate the effect
which the peculiarity of the circumstances in which we were
placed had produced upon the minds of my companion and myself.  
In addressing me--especially when I lay reclining upon the mats
suffering from pain--there was a tenderness in her manner which
it was impossible to misunderstand or resist.  Whenever she
entered the house, the expression of her face indicated the
liveliest sympathy for me; and moving towards the place where I
lay, with one arm slightly elevated in a gesture of pity, and her
large glistening eyes gazing intently into mine, she would murmur
plaintively, 'Awha!  awha!  Tommo,' and seat herself mournfully
beside me.

Her manner convinced me that she deeply compassionated my
situation, as being removed from my country and friends, and
placed beyond the reach of all relief.  Indeed, at times I was
almost led to believe that her mind was swayed by gentle impulses
hardly to be anticipated from one in her condition; that she
appeared to be conscious there were ties rudely severed, which
had once bound us to our homes; that there were sisters and
brothers anxiously looking forward to our return, who were,
perhaps, never more to behold us.

In this amiable light did Fayaway appear m my eyes; and reposing
full confidence in her candour and intelligence, I now had
recourse to her, in the midst of my alarm, with regard to my
companion.

My questions evidently distressed her.  She looked round from one
to another of the bystanders, as if hardly knowing what answer to
give me.  At last, yielding to my importunities, she overcame her
scruples, and gave me to understand that Toby had gone away with
the boats which had visited the bay, but had promised to return
at the expiration of three days.  At first I accused him of
perfidiously deserting me; but as I grew more composed, I
upbraided myself for imputing so cowardly an action to him, and
tranquillized myself with the belief that he had availed himself,
of the opportunity to go round to Nukuheva, in order to make some
arrangement by which I could be removed from the valley.  At any
rate, thought I, he will return with the medicines I require, and
then, as soon as I recover, there will be no difficulty in the
way of our departure.

Consoling myself with these reflections, I lay down that night in
a happier frame of mind than I had done for some time.  The next
day passed without any allusion to Toby on the part of the
natives, who seemed desirous of avoiding all reference to the
subject.  This raised some apprehensions in my breast; but when
night came, I congratulated myself that the second day had now
gone by, and that on the morrow Toby would again be with me.  But
the morrow came and went, and my companion did not appear.  Ah!
thought I, he reckons three days from the morning of his
departure,--tomorrow he will arrive.  But that weary day also
closed upon me, without his return.  Even yet I would not
despair; I thought that something detained him--that he was
waiting for the sailing of a boat, at Nukuheva, and that in a day
or two at farthest I should see him again.  But day after day of
renewed disappointment passed by; at last hope deserted me, and I
fell a victim to despair.

Yes; thought I, gloomily, he has secured his own escape, and
cares not what calamity may befall his unfortunate comrade.  Fool
that I was, to suppose that any one would willingly encounter the
perils of this valley, after having once got beyond its limits!  
He has gone, and has left me to combat alone all the dangers by
which I am surrounded.  Thus would I sometimes seek to derive a
desperate consolation from dwelling upon the perfidity of Toby:
whilst at other times I sunk under the bitter remorse which I
felt as having by my own imprudence brought upon myself the fate
which I was sure awaited me.

At other times I thought that perhaps after all these treacherous
savages had made away with him, and thence the confusion into
which they were thrown by my questions, and their contradictory
answers, or he might be a captive in some other part of the
valley, or, more dreadful still, might have met with that fate at
which my very soul shuddered.  But all these speculations were
vain; no tidings of Toby ever reached me; he had gone never to
return.

The conduct of the islanders appeared inexplicable.  All
reference to my lost comrade was carefully evaded, and if at any
time they were forced to make some reply to my frequent inquiries
on the subject, they would uniformly denounce him as an
ungrateful runaway, who had deserted his friend, and taken
himself off to that vile and detestable place Nukuheva.

But whatever might have been his fate, now that he was gone the
natives multiplied their acts of kindness and attention towards
myself, treating me with a degree of deference which could hardly
have been surpassed had I been some celestial visitant.  
Kory-Kory never for one moment left my side, unless it were to
execute my wishes.  The faithful fellow, twice every day, in the
cool of the morning and in the evening, insisted upon carrying me
to the stream, and bathing me in its refreshing water.

Frequently in the afternoon he would carry me to a particular
part of the stream, where the beauty of the scene produced a
soothing influence upon my mind.  At this place the waters flowed
between grassy banks, planted with enormous bread-fruit trees,
whose vast branches interlacing overhead, formed a leafy canopy;
near the stream were several smooth black rocks.  One of these,
projecting several feet above the surface of the,water, had upon
its summit a shallow cavity, which, filled with freshly-gathered
leaves, formed a delightful couch.

Here I often lay for hours, covered with a gauze-like veil of
tappa, while Fayaway, seated beside me, and holding in her hand a
fan woven from the leaflets of a young cocoanut bough, brushed
aside the insects that occasionally lighted on my face, and
Kory-Kory.  with a view of chasing away my melancholy, performed
a thousand antics in the water before us.

As my eye wandered along this romantic stream, it would fall upon
the half-immersed figure of a beautiful girl, standing in the
transparent water, and catching in a little net a species of
diminutive shell-fish, of which these people are extraordinarily
fond.  Sometimes a chattering group would be seated upon the edge
of a low rock in the midst of the brook, busily engaged in
thinning and polishing the shells of cocoanuts, by rubbing them
briskly with a small stone in the water, an operation which soon
converts them into a light and elegant drinking vessel, somewhat
resembling goblets made of tortoise shell.

But the tranquillizing influence of beautiful scenery, and the
exhibition of human life under so novel and charming an aspect
were not my only sources of consolation.

Every evening the girls of the house gathered about me on the
mats, and after chasing away Kory-Kory from my side--who
nevertheless, retired only to a little distance and watched their
proceedings with the most jealous attention--would anoint my
whole body with a fragrant oil, squeezed from a yellow root,
previously pounded between a couple of stones, and which in their
language is denominated 'aka'.  And most refreshing and agreeable
are the juices of the 'aka', when applied to ones, limbs by the
soft palms of sweet nymphs, whose bright eyes are beaming upon
you with kindness; and I used to hail with delight the daily
recurrence of this luxurious operation, in which I forgot all my
troubles, and buried for the time every feeling of sorrow.

Sometimes in the cool of the evening my devoted servitor would
lead me out upon the pi-pi in front of the house, and seating me
near its edge, protect my body from the annoyance of the insects
which occasionally hovered in the air, by wrapping me round with
a large roll of tappa.  He then bustled about, and employed
himself at least twenty minutes in adjusting everything to secure
my personal comfort.

Having perfected his arrangements, he would get my pipe, and,
lighting it, would hand it to me.  Often he was obliged to strike
a light for the occasion, and as the mode he adopted was entirely
different from what I had ever seen or heard of before I will
describe it.

A straight, dry, and partly decayed stick of the Hibiscus, about
six feet in length, and half as many inches in diameter, with a
small, bit of wood not more than a foot long, and scarcely an
inch wide, is as invariably to be met with in every house in
Typee as a box of lucifer matches in the corner of a kitchen
cupboard at home.

The islander, placing the larger stick obliquely against some
object, with one end elevated at an angle of forty-five degrees,
mounts astride of it like an urchin about to gallop off upon a
cane, and then grasping the smaller one firmly in both hands, he
rubs its pointed end slowly up and down the extent of a few
inches on the principal suck, until at last he makes a narrow
groove in the wood, with an abrupt termination at the point
furthest from him, where all the dusty particles which the
friction creates are accumulated in a little heap.

At first Kory-Kory goes to work quite leisurely, but gradually
quickens his pace, and waxing warm in the employment, drives the
stick furiously along the smoking channel, plying his hands to
and fro with amazing rapidity, the perspiration starting from
every pore.  As he approaches the climax of his effort, he pants
and gasps for breath, and his eyes almost start from their
sockets with the violence of his exertions.  This is the critical
stage of the operation; all his previous labours are vain if he
cannot sustain the rapidity of the movement until the reluctant
spark is produced.  Suddenly he stops, becoming perfectly
motionless.  His hands still retain their hold of the smaller
stick, which is pressed convulsively against the further end of
the channel among the fine powder there accumulated, as if he had
just pierced through and through some little viper that was
wriggling and struggling to escape from his clutches.  The next
moment a delicate wreath of smoke curls spirally into the air,
the heap of dusty particles glows with fire, and Kory-Kory,
almost breathless, dismounts from his steed.

This operation appeared to me to be the most laborious species of
work performed in Typee; and had I possessed a sufficient
intimacy with the language to have conveyed my ideas upon the
subject, I should certainly have suggested to the most
influential of the natives the expediency of establishing a
college of vestals to be centrally located in the valley, for the
purpose of keeping alive the indispensable article of fire; so as
to supersede the necessity of such a vast outlay of strength and
good temper, as were usually squandered on these occasions.  
There might, however, be special difficulties in carrying this
plan into execution.

What a striking evidence does this operation furnish of the wide
difference between the extreme of savage and civilized life.  A
gentleman of Typee can bring up a numerous family of children and
give them all a highly respectable cannibal education, with
infinitely less toil and anxiety than he expends in the simple
process of striking a light; whilst a poor European artisan, who
through the instrumentality of a lucifer performs the same
operation in one second, is put to his wit's end to provide for
his starving offspring that food which the children of a
Polynesian father, without troubling their parents, pluck from
the branches of every tree around them.



CHAPTER FIFTEEN

KINDNESS OF MARHEYO AND THE REST OF THE ISLANDERS--A FULL
DESCRIPTION OF THE BREAD- FRUIT TREE--DIFFERENT MODES OF
PREPARING THE FRUIT

ALL the inhabitants of the valley treated me with great kindness;
but as to the household of Marheyo, with whom I was now
permanently domiciled, nothing could surpass their efforts to
minister to my comfort.  To the gratification of my palate they
paid the most unwearied attention.  They continually invited me
to partake of food, and when after eating heartily I declined the
viands they continued to offer me, they seemed to think that my
appetite stood in need of some piquant stimulant to excite its
activity.

In pursuance of this idea, old Marheyo himself would hie him away
to the sea-shore by the break of day, for the purpose of
collecting various species of rare sea-weed; some of which among
these people are considered a great luxury.  After a whole day
spent in this employment, he would return about nightfall with
several cocoanut shells filled with different descriptions of
kelp.  In preparing these for use he manifested all the
ostentation of a professed cook, although the chief mystery of
the affair appeared to consist in pouring water in judicious
quantities upon the slimy contents of his cocoanut shells.

The first time he submitted one of these saline salads to my
critical attention I naturally thought that anything collected at
such pains must possess peculiar merits; but one mouthful was a
complete dose; and great was the consternation of the old warrior
at the rapidity with which I ejected his Epicurean treat.

How true it is, that the rarity of any particular article
enhances its value amazingly.  In some part of the valley--I know
not where, but probably in the neighbourhood of the sea--the
girls were sometimes in the habit of procuring small quantities
of salt, a thimble-full or so being the result of the united
labours of a party of five or six employed for the greater part
of the day.  This precious commodity they brought to the house,
enveloped in multitudinous folds of leaves; and as a special mark
of the esteem in which they held me, would spread an immense leaf
on the ground, and dropping one by one a few minute particles of
the salt upon it, invite me to taste them.

From the extravagant value placed upon the article, I verily
believe, that with a bushel of common Liverpool salt all the real
estate in Typee might have been purchased.  With a small pinch of
it in one hand, and a quarter section of a bread-fruit in the
other, the greatest chief in the valley would have laughed at all
luxuries of a Parisian table.

The celebrity of the bread-fruit tree, and the conspicuous place
it occupies in a Typee bill of fare, induces me to give at some
length a general description of the tree, and the various modes
in which the fruit is prepared.

The bread-fruit tree, in its glorious prime, is a grand and
towering object, forming the same feature in a Marquesan
landscape that the patriarchal elm does in New England scenery.  
The latter tree it not a little resembles in height, in the wide
spread of its stalwart branches, and in its venerable and
imposing aspect.

The leaves of the bread-fruit are of great size, and their edges
are cut and scolloped as fantastically as those of a lady's lace
collar.  As they annually tend towards decay, they almost rival
in brilliant variety of their gradually changing hues the
fleeting shades of the expiring dolphin.  The autumnal tints of
our American forests, glorious as they are, sink into nothing in
comparison with this tree.

The leaf, in one particular stage, when nearly all the prismatic
colours are blended on its surface, is often converted by the
natives into a superb and striking bead-dress.  The principal
fibre traversing its length being split open a convenient
distance, and the elastic sides of the aperture pressed apart,
the head is inserted between them, the leaf drooping on one side,
with its forward half turned jauntily up on the brows, and the
remaining part spreading laterally behind the ears.

The fruit somewhat resembles in magnitude and general appearance
one of our citron melons of ordinary size; but, unlike the
citron, it has no sectional lines drawn along the outside.  Its
surface is dotted all over with little conical prominences,
looking not unlike the knobs, on an antiquated church door.  The
rind is perhaps an eighth of an inch in thickness; and denuded of
this at the time when it is in the greatest perfection, the fruit
presents a beautiful globe of white pulp, the whole of which may
be eaten, with the exception of a slender core, which is easily
removed.

The bread-fruit, however, is never used, and is indeed altogether
unfit to be eaten, until submitted in one form or other to the
action of fire.

The most simple manner in which this operation is performed, and
I think, the best, consists in placing any number of the freshly
plucked fruit, when in a particular state of greenness, among the
embers of a fire, in the same way that you would roast a potato.  
After the lapse of ten or fifteen minutes, the green rind
embrowns and.  cracks, showing through the fissures in its sides
the milk-white interior.  As soon as it cools the rind drops off,
and you then have the soft round pulp in its purest and most
delicious state.  Thus eaten, it has a mild and pleasing flavour.

Sometimes after having been roasted in the fire, the natives
snatch it briskly from the embers, and permitting it to slip out
of the yielding rind into a vessel of cold water, stir up the
mixture, which they call 'bo-a-sho'.  I never could endure this
compound, and indeed the preparation is not greatly in vogue
among the more polite Typees.

There is one form, however, in which the fruit is occasionally
served, that renders it a dish fit for a king.  As soon as it is
taken from the fire the exterior is removed, the core extracted,
and the remaining part is placed in a sort of shallow stone
mortar, and briskly worked with a pestle of the same substance.  
While one person is performing this operation, another takes a
ripe cocoanut, and breaking it in halves, which they also do very
cleverly, proceeds to grate the juicy meat into fine particles.  
This is done by means of a piece of mother-of-pearl shell, lashed
firmly to the extreme end of a heavy stick, with its straight
side accurately notched like a saw.  The stick is sometimes a
grotesquely-formed limb of a tree, with three or four branches
twisting from its body like so many shapeless legs, and
sustaining it two or three feet from the ground.

The native, first placing a calabash beneath the nose, as it
were, of his curious-looking log-steed, for the purpose of
receiving the grated fragments as they fall, mounts astride of it
as if it were a hobby-horse, and twirling the inside of his
hemispheres of cocoanut around the sharp teeth of the
mother-of-pearl shell, the pure white meat falls in snowy showers
into the receptacle provided.  Having obtained a quantity for his
purpose, he places it in a bag made of the net-like fibrous
substance attached to all cocoanut trees, and compressing it over
the bread-fruit, which being now sufficiently pounded, is put
into a wooden bowl--extracts a thick creamy milk.  The delicious
liquid soon bubbles round the fruit, and leaves it at last just
peeping above its surface.

This preparation is called 'kokoo', and a most luscious
preparation it is.  The hobby-horse and the pestle and mortar
were in great requisition during the time I remained in the house
of Marheyo, and Kory-Kory had frequent occasion to show his skill
in their use.

But the great staple articles of food into which the bread-fruit
is converted by these natives are known respectively by the names
of Amar and Poee-Poee.

At a certain season of the year, when the fruit of the hundred
groves of the valley has reached its maturity, and hangs in
golden spheres from every branch, the islanders assemble in
harvest groups, and garner in the abundance which surrounds them.

The trees are stripped of their nodding burdens, which, easily
freed from the rind and core, are gathered together in capacious
wooden vessels, where the pulpy fruit is soon worked by a stone
pestle, vigorously applied, into a blended mass of a doughy
consistency, called by the natives 'Tutao'.  This is then divided
into separate parcels, which, after being made up into stout
packages, enveloped in successive folds of leaves, and bound
round with thongs of bark, are stored away in large receptacles
hollowed in the earth, from whence they are drawn as occasion may
require.  In this condition the Tutao sometimes remains for
years, and even is thought to improve by age.  Before it is fit
to be eaten, however, it has to undergo an additional process.  A
primitive oven is scooped in the ground, and its bottom being
loosely covered with stones, a large fire is kindled within it.  
As soon as the requisite degree of heat is attained, the embers
are removed, and the surface of the stones being covered with
thick layers of leaves, one of the large packages of Tutao is
deposited upon them and overspread with another layer of leaves.  
The whole is then quickly heaped up with earth, and forms a
sloping mound.

The Tutao thus baked is called 'Amar'; the action of the oven
having converted it into an amber-coloured caky substance, a
little tart, but not at all disagreeable to the taste.

By another and final process the 'Amar' is changed into
'Poee-Poee'.  This transition is rapidly effected.  The Amar is
placed in a vessel, and mixed with water until it gains a proper
pudding-like consistency, when, without further preparation, t is
in readiness for use.  This is the form in which the 'Tutao' is
generally consumed.  The singular mode of eating it I have
already described.

Were it not that the bread-fruit is thus capable of being
preserved for a length of time, the natives might be reduced to a
state of starvation; for owing to some unknown cause the trees
sometimes fail to bear fruit; and on such occasions the islanders
chiefly depend upon the supplies they have been enabled to store
away.

This stately tree, which is rarely met with upon the Sandwich
Islands, and then only of a very inferior quality, and at Tahiti
does not abound to a degree that renders its fruit the principal
article of food, attains its greatest excellence in the genial
climate of the Marquesan group, where it grows to an enormous
magnitude, and flourishes in the utmost abundance.



CHAPTER SIXTEEN

MELANCHOLY CONDITION--OCCURRENCE AT THE TI--ANECDOTE OF
MARHEYO--SHAVING THE HEAD OF A WARRIOR

IN looking back to this period, and calling to remembrance the
numberless proofs of kindness and respect which I received from
the natives of the valley, I can scarcely understand how it was
that, in the midst of so many consolatory circumstances, my mind
should still have been consumed by the most dismal forebodings,
and have remained a prey to the profoundest melancholy.  It is
true that the suspicious circumstances which had attended the
disappearance of Toby were enough of themselves to excite
distrust with regard to the savages, in whose power I felt myself
to be entirely placed, especially when it was combined with the
knowledge that these very men, kind and respectful as they were
to me, were, after all, nothing better than a set of cannibals.

But my chief source of anxiety, and that which poisoned every
temporary enjoyment, was the mysterious disease in my leg, which
still remained unabated.  All the herbal applications of Tinor,
united with the severer discipline of the old leech, and the
affectionate nursing of Kory-Kory, had failed to relieve me.  I
was almost a cripple, and the pain I endured at intervals was
agonizing.  The unaccountable malady showed no signs of
amendment: on the contrary, its violence increased day by day,
and threatened the most fatal results, unless some powerful means
were employed to counteract it.  It seemed as if I were destined
to sink under this grievous affliction, or at least that it would
hinder me from availing myself of any opportunity of escaping
from the valley.

An incident which occurred as nearly as I can estimate about
three weeks after the disappearance of Toby, convinced me that
the natives, from some reason or other, would interpose every
possible obstacle to my leaving them.

One morning there was no little excitement evinced by the people
near my abode, and which I soon discovered proceeded from a vague
report that boats, had been seen at a great distance approaching
the bay.  Immediately all was bustle and animation.  It so
happened that day that the pain I suffered having somewhat
abated, and feeling in much better spirits than usual, I had
complied with Kory-Kory's invitation to visit the chief Mehevi at
the place called the 'Ti', which I have before described as being
situated within the precincts of the Taboo Groves.  These sacred
recesses were at no great distance from Marheyo's habitation, and
lay between it and the sea; the path that conducted to the beach
passing directly in front of the Ti, and thence skirting along
the border of the groves.

I was reposing upon the mats, within the sacred building, in
company with Mehevi and several other chiefs, when the
announcement was first made.  It sent a thrill of joy through my
whole frame;--perhaps Toby was about to return.  I rose at once
to my feet, and my instinctive impulse was to hurry down to the
beach, equally regardless of the distance that separated me from
it, and of my disabled condition.  As soon as Mehevi noticed the
effect the intelligence had produced upon me, and the impatience
I betrayed to reach the sea, his countenance assumed that
inflexible rigidity of expression which had so awed me on the
afternoon of our arrival at the house of Marheyo.  As I was
proceeding to leave the Ti, he laid his hand upon my shoulder,
and said gravely, 'abo, abo' (wait, wait).  Solely intent upon
the one thought that occupied my mind, and heedless of his
request, I was brushing past him, when suddenly he assumed a tone
of authority, and told me to 'moee' (sit down).  Though struck by
the alteration in his demeanour, the excitement under which I
laboured was too strong to permit me to obey the unexpected
command, and I was still limping towards the edge of the pi-pi
with Kory-Kory clinging to one arm in his efforts to restrain me,
when the natives around started to their feet, ranged themselves
along the open front of the building, while Mehevi looked at me
scowlingly, and reiterated his commands still more sternly.

It was at this moment, when fifty savage countenances were
glaring upon me, that I first truly experienced I was indeed a
captive in the valley.  The conviction rushed upon me with
staggering force, and I was overwhelmed by this confirmation of
my worst fears.  I saw at once that it was useless for me to
resist, and sick at heart, I reseated myself upon the mats, and
for the moment abandoned myself to despair.

I now perceived the natives one after the other hurrying past the
Ti and pursuing the route that conducted to the sea.  These
savages, thought I, will soon be holding communication with some
of my own countrymen perhaps, who with ease could restore me to
liberty did they know of the situation I was in.  No language can
describe the wretchedness which I felt; and in the bitterness of
my soul I imprecated a thousand curses on the perfidious Toby,
who had thus abandoned me to destruction.  It was in vain that
Kory-Kory tempted me with food, or lighted my pipe, or sought to
attract my attention by performing the uncouth antics that had
sometimes diverted me.  I was fairly knocked down by this last
misfortune, which, much as I had feared it, I had never before
had the courage calmly to contemplate.

Regardless of everything but my own sorrow, I remained in the Ti
for several hours, until shouts proceeding at intervals from the
groves beyond the house proclaimed the return of the natives from
the beach.

Whether any boats visited the bay that morning or not, I never
could ascertain.  The savages assured me that there had not--but
I was inclined to believe that by deceiving me in this particular
they sought to allay the violence of my grief.  However that
might be, this incident showed plainly that the Typees intended
to hold me a prisoner.  As they still treated me with the same
sedulous attention as before, I was utterly at a loss how to
account for their singular conduct.  Had I been in a situation to
instruct them in any of the rudiments of the mechanic arts, or
had I manifested a disposition to render myself in any way useful
among them, their conduct might have been attributed to some
adequate motive, but as it was, the matter seemed to me
inexplicable.

During my whole stay on the island there occurred but two or
three instances where the natives applied to me with the view of
availing themselves of my superior information; and these now
appear so ludicrous that I cannot forbear relating them.

The few things we had brought from Nukuheva had been done up into
a small bundle which we had carried with us in our descent to the
valley.  This bundle, the first night of our arrival, I had used
as a pillow, but on the succeeding morning, opening it for the
inspection of the natives, they gazed upon the miscellaneous
contents as though I had just revealed to them a casket of
diamonds, and they insisted that so precious a treasure should be
properly secured.  A line was accordingly attached to it, and the
other end being passed over the ridge-pole of the house, it was
hoisted up to the apex of the roof, where it hung suspended
directly over the mats where I usually reclined.  When I desired
anything from it I merely raised my finger to a bamboo beside me,
and taking hold of the string which was there fastened, lowered
the package.  This was exceedingly handy, and I took care to let
the natives understand how much I applauded the invention.  Of
this package the chief contents were a razor with its case, a
supply of needles and thread, a pound or two of tobacco and a few
yards of bright-coloured calico.

I should have mentioned that shortly after Toby's disappearance,
perceiving the uncertainty of the time I might be obliged to
remain in the valley--if, indeed, I ever should escape from
it--and considering that my whole wardrobe consisted of a shirt
and a pair of trousers, I resolved to doff these garments at
once, in order to preserve them in a suitable condition for wear
should I again appear among civilized beings.  I was consequently
obliged to assume the Typee costume, a little altered, however,
to suit my own views of propriety, and in which I have no doubt I
appeared to as much advantage as a senator of Rome enveloped in
the folds of his toga.  A few folds of yellow tappa tucked about
my waist, descended to my feet in the style of a lady's
petticoat, only I did not have recourse to those voluminous
paddings in the rear with which our gentle dames are in the habit
of augmenting the sublime rotundity of their figures.  This
usually comprised my in-door dress; whenever I walked out, I
superadded to it an ample robe of the same material, which
completely enveloped my person, and screened it from the rays of
the sun.

One morning I made a rent in this mantle; and to show the
islanders with what facility it could be repaired, I lowered my
bundle, and taking from it a needle and thread, proceeded to
stitch up the opening.  They regarded this wonderful application
of science with intense admiration; and whilst I was stitching
away, old Marheyo, who was one of the lookers-on, suddenly
clapped his hand to his forehead, and rushing to a corner of the
house, drew forth a soiled and tattered strip of faded calico
which he must have procured some time or other in traffic on the
beach--and besought me eagerly to exercise a little of my art
upon it.  I willingly complied, though certainly so stumpy a
needle as mine never took such gigantic strides over calico
before.  The repairs completed, old Marheyo gave me a paternal
hug; and divesting himself of his 'maro' (girdle), swathed the
calico about his loins, and slipping the beloved ornaments into
his ears, grasped his spear and sallied out of the house, like a
valiant Templar arrayed in a new and costly suit of armour.

I never used my razor during my stay in the island, but although
a very subordinate affair, it had been vastly admired by the
Typees; and Narmonee, a great hero among them, who was
exceedingly precise in the arrangements of his toilet and the
general adjustment of is person, being the most accurately
tattooed and laboriously horrified individual in all the valley,
thought it would be a great advantage to have it applied to the
already shaven crown of his head.

The implement they usually employ is a shark's tooth, which is
about as well adapted to the purpose as a one-pronged fork for
pitching hay.  No wonder, then, that the acute Narmonee perceived
the advantage my razor possessed over the usual implement.  
Accordingly, one day he requested as a personal favour that I
would just run over his head with the razor.  In reply, I gave
him to understand that it was too dull, and could not be used to
any purpose without being previously sharpened.  To assist my
meaning, I went through an imaginary honing process on the palm
of my hand.  Narmonee took my meaning in an instant, and running
out of the house, returned the next moment with a huge rough mass
of rock as big as a millstone, and indicated to me that that was
exactly the thing I wanted.  Of course there was nothing left for
me but to proceed to business, and I began scraping away at a
great rate.  He writhed and wriggled under the infliction, but,
fully convinced of my skill, endured the pain like a martyr.

Though I never saw Narmonee in battle I will, from what I then
observed, stake my life upon his courage and fortitude.  Before
commencing operations, his head had presented a surface of short
bristling hairs, and by the time I had concluded my unskilful
operation it resembled not a little a stubble field after being
gone over with a harrow.  However, as the chief expressed the
liveliest satisfaction at the result, I was too wise to dissent
from his opinion.



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTH AND SPIRITS--FELICITY OF THE TYPEES--THEIR
ENJOYMENTS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF MORE ENLIGHTENED
COMMUNITIES--COMPARATIVE WICKEDNESS OF CIVILIZED AND
UNENLIGHTENED PEOPLE--A SKIRMISH IN THE MOUNTAIN WITH THE
WARRIORS OF HAPPAR

DAY after day wore on, and still there was no perceptible change
in the conduct of the islanders towards me.  Gradually I lost all
knowledge of the regular recurrence of the days of the week, and
sunk insensibly into that kind of apathy which ensues after some
violent outburst of despair.  My limb suddenly healed, the
swelling went down, the pain subsided, and I had every reason to
suppose I should soon completely recover from the affliction that
had so long tormented me.

As soon as I was enabled to ramble about the valley in company
with the natives, troops of whom followed me whenever I sallied
out of the house, I began to experience an elasticity of mind
which placed me beyond the reach of those dismal forebodings to
which I had so lately been a prey.  Received wherever I went with
the most deferential kindness; regaled perpetually with the most
delightful fruits; ministered to by dark-eyed nymphs, and
enjoying besides all the services of the devoted Kory-Kory, I
thought that, for a sojourn among cannibals, no man could have
well made a more agreeable one.

To be sure there were limits set to my wanderings.  Toward the
sea my progress was barred by an express prohibition of the
savages; and after having made two or three ineffectual attempts
to reach it, as much to gratify my curiousity as anything else, I
gave up the idea.  It was in vain to think of reaching it by
stealth, since the natives escorted me in numbers wherever I
went, and not for one single moment that I can recall to mind was
I ever permitted to be alone.

The green and precipitous elevations that stood ranged around the
head of the vale where Marheyo's habitation was situated
effectually precluded all hope of escape in that quarter, even if
I could have stolen away from the thousand eyes of the savages.

But these reflections now seldom obtruded upon me; I gave myself
up to the passing hour, and if ever disagreeable thoughts arose
in my mind, I drove them away.  When I looked around the verdant
recess in which I was buried, and gazed up to the summits of the
lofty eminence that hemmed me in, I was well disposed to think
that I was in the 'Happy Valley', and that beyond those heights
there was naught but a world of care and anxiety.  As I extended
my wanderings in the valley and grew more familiar with the
habits of its inmates, I was fain to confess that, despite the
disadvantages of his condition, the Polynesian savage, surrounded
by all the luxurious provisions of nature, enjoyed an infinitely
happier, though certainly a less intellectual existence than the
self-complacent European.

The naked wretch who shivers beneath the bleak skies, and starves
among the inhospitable wilds of Tierra-del-Fuego, might indeed be
made happier by civilization, for it would alleviate his physical
wants.  But the voluptuous Indian, with every desire supplied,
whom Providence has bountifully provided with all the sources of
pure and natural enjoyment, and from whom are removed so many of
the ills and pains of life--what has he to desire at the hands of
Civilization?  She may 'cultivate his mind--may elevate his
thoughts,'--these I believe are the established phrases--but will
he be the happier?  Let the once smiling and populous Hawiian
islands, with their now diseased, starving, and dying natives,
answer the question.  The missionaries may seek to disguise the
matter as they will, but the facts are incontrovertible; and the
devoutest Christian who visits that group with an unbiased mind,
must go away mournfully asking--'Are these, alas!  the fruits of
twenty-five years of enlightening?'

In a primitive state of society, the enjoyments of life, though
few and simple, are spread over a great extent, and are
unalloyed; but Civilization, for every advantage she imparts,
holds a hundred evils in reserve;--the heart-burnings, the
jealousies, the social rivalries, the family dissentions, and the
thousand self-inflicted discomforts of refined life, which make
up in units the swelling aggregate of human misery, are unknown
among these unsophisticated people.

But it will be urged that these shocking unprincipled wretches
are cannibals.  Very true; and a rather bad trait in their
character it must be allowed.  But they are such only when they
seek to gratify the passion of revenge upon their enemies; and I
ask whether the mere eating of human flesh so very far exceeds in
barbarity that custom which only a few years since was practised
in enlightened England:--a convicted traitor, perhaps a man found
guilty of honesty, patriotism, and suchlike heinous crimes, had
his head lopped off with a huge axe, his bowels dragged cut and
thrown into a fire; while his body, carved into four quarters,
was with his head exposed upon pikes, and permitted to rot and
fester among the public haunts of men!

The fiend-like skill we display in the invention of all manner of
death-dealing engines, the vindictiveness with which we carry on
our wars, and the misery and desolation that follow in their
train, are enough of themselves to distinguish the white
civilized man as the most ferocious animal on the face of the
earth.

His remorseless cruelty is seen in many of the institutions of
our own favoured land.  There is one in particular lately adopted
in one of the States of the Union, which purports to have been
dictated by the most merciful considerations.  To destroy our
malefactors piece-meal, drying up in their veins, drop by drop,
the blood we are too chicken-hearted to shed by a single blow
which would at once put a period to their sufferings, is deemed
to be infinitely preferable to the old-fashioned punishment of
gibbeting--much less annoying to the victim, and more in
accordance with the refined spirit of the age; and yet how feeble
is all language to describe the horrors we inflict upon these
wretches, whom we mason up in the cells of our prisons, and
condemn to perpetual solitude in the very heart of our
population.

But it is needless to multiply the examples of civilized
barbarity; they far exceed in the amount of misery they cause the
crimes which we regard with such abhorrence in our less
enlightened fellow-creatures.

The term 'Savage' is, I conceive, often misapplied, and indeed,
when I consider the vices, cruelties, and enormities of every
kind that spring up in the tainted atmosphere of a feverish
civilization, I am inclined to think that so far as the relative
wickedness of the parties is concerned, four or five Marquesan
Islanders sent to the United States as Missionaries might be
quite as useful as an equal number of Americans despatched to the
Islands in a similar capacity.

I once heard it given as an instance of the frightful depravity
of a certain tribe in the Pacific that they had no word in their
language to express the idea of virtue.  The assertion was
unfounded; but were it otherwise, it might be met by stating that
their language is almost entirely destitute of terms to express
the delightful ideas conveyed by our endless catalogue of
civilized crimes.

In the altered frame of mind to which I have referred, every
object that presented itself to my notice in the valley struck me
in a new light, and the opportunities I now enjoyed of observing
the manners of its inmates, tended to strengthen my favourable
impressions.  One peculiarity that fixed my admiration was the
perpetual hilarity reigning through the whole extent of the vale.

There seemed to be no cares, griefs, troubles, or vexations, in
all Typee.  The hours tripped along as gaily as the laughing
couples down a country dance.

There were none of those thousand sources of irritation that the
ingenuity of civilized man has created to mar his own felicity.  
There were no foreclosures of mortgages, no protested notes, no
bills payable, no debts of honour in Typee; no unreasonable
tailors and shoemakers perversely bent on being paid; no duns of
any description and battery attorneys, to foment discord, backing
their clients up to a quarrel, and then knocking their heads
together; no poor relations, everlastingly occupying the spare
bed-chamber, and diminishing the elbow room at the family table;
no destitute widows with their children starving on the cold
charities of the world; no beggars; no debtors' prisons; no proud
and hard-hearted nabobs in Typee; or to sum up all in one
word--no Money!  'That root of all evil' was not to be found in
the valley.

In this secluded abode of happiness there were no cross old
women, no cruel step-dames, no withered spinsters, no lovesick
maidens, no sour old bachelors, no inattentive husbands, no
melancholy young men, no blubbering youngsters, and no squalling
brats.  All was mirth, fun and high good humour.  Blue devils,
hypochondria, and doleful dumps, went and hid themselves among
the nooks and crannies of the rocks.

Here you would see a parcel of children frolicking together the
live-long day, and no quarrelling, no contention, among them.  
The same number in our own land could not have played together
for the space of an hour without biting or scratching one
another.  There you might have seen a throng of young females,
not filled with envyings of each other's charms, nor displaying
the ridiculous affectations of gentility, nor yet moving in
whalebone corsets, like so many automatons, but free,
inartificially happy, and unconstrained.

There were some spots in that sunny vale where they would
frequently resort to decorate themselves with garlands of
flowers.  To have seen them reclining beneath the shadows of one
of the beautiful groves; the ground about them strewn with
freshly gathered buds and blossoms, employed in weaving chaplets
and necklaces, one would have thought that all the train of Flora
had gathered together to keep a festival in honour of their
mistress.

With the young men there seemed almost always some matter of
diversion or business on hand that afforded a constant variety of
enjoyment.  But whether fishing, or carving canoes, or polishing
their ornaments, never was there exhibited the least sign of
strife or contention among them.  As for the warriors, they
maintained a tranquil dignity of demeanour, journeying
occasionally from house to house, where they were always sure to
be received with the attention bestowed upon distinguished
guests.  The old men, of whom there were many in the vale, seldom
stirred from their mats, where they would recline for hours and
hours, smoking and talking to one another with all the garrulity
of age.

But the continual happiness, which so far as I was able to judge
appeared to prevail in the valley, sprang principally from that
all-pervading sensation which Rousseau has told us be at one time
experienced, the mere buoyant sense of a healthful physical
existence.  And indeed in this particular the Typees had ample
reason to felicitate themselves, for sickness was almost unknown.

During the whole period of my stay I saw but one invalid among
them; and on their smooth skins you observed no blemish or mark
of disease.

The general repose, however, upon which I have just been
descanting, was broken in upon about this time by an event which
proved that the islanders were not entirely exempt from those
occurrences which disturb the quiet of more civilized
communities.

Having now been a considerable time in the valley, I began to
feel surprised that the violent hostility subsisting between its
inhabitants, and those of the adjoining bay of Happar, should
never have manifested itself in any warlike encounter.  Although
the valiant Typees would often by gesticulations declare their
undying hatred against their enemies, and the disgust they felt
at their cannibal propensities; although they dilated upon the
manifold injuries they had received at their hands, yet with a
forbearance truly commendable, they appeared to sit down under
their grievances, and to refrain from making any reprisals.  The
Happars, entrenched behind their mountains, and never even
showing themselves on their summits, did not appear to me to
furnish adequate cause for that excess of animosity evinced
towards them by the heroic tenants of our vale, and I was
inclined to believe that the deeds of blood attributed to them
had been greatly exaggerated.

On the other hand, as the clamours of war had not up to this
period disturbed the serenity of the tribe, I began to distrust
the truth of those reports which ascribed so fierce and
belligerent a character to the Typee nation.  Surely, thought I,
all these terrible stories I have heard about the inveteracy with
which they carried on the feud, their deadly intensity, of hatred
and the diabolical malice with which they glutted their revenge
upon the inanimate forms of the slain, are nothing more than
fables, and I must confess that I experienced something like a
sense of regret at having my hideous anticipations thus
disappointed.  I felt in some sort like a 'prentice boy who,
going to the play in the expectation of being delighted with a
cut-and-thrust tragedy, is almost moved to tears of
disappointment at the exhibition of a genteel comedy.

I could not avoid thinking that I had fallen in with a greatly
traduced people, and I moralized not a little upon the
disadvantage of having a bad name, which in this instance  had
given a tribe of savages, who were as pacific as so many
lambkins, the reputation of a confederacy of giant-killers.

But subsequent events proved that I had been a little too
premature in coming to this conclusion.  One, day about noon,
happening to be at the Ti, I had lain down on the mats with
several of the chiefs, and had gradually sunk into a most
luxurious siesta, when I was awakened by a tremendous outcry, and
starting up beheld the natives seizing their spears and hurrying
out, while the most puissant of the chiefs, grasping the six
muskets which were ranged against the bamboos, followed after,
and soon disappeared in the groves.  These movements were
accompanied by wild shouts, in which 'Happar, Happar,' greatly
predominated.  The islanders were now seen running past the Ti,
and striking across the valley to the Happar side.  Presently I
heard the sharp report of a musket from the adjoining hills, and
then a burst of voices in the same direction.  At this the women
who had congregated in the groves, set up the most violent
clamours, as they invariably do here as elsewhere on every
occasion of excitement and alarm, with a view of tranquillizing
their own minds and disturbing other people.  On this particular
occasion they made such an outrageous noise, and continued it
with such perseverance, that for awhile, had entire volleys of
musketry been fired off in the neighbouring mountains, I should
not have been able to have heard them.

When this female commotion had a little subsided I listened
eagerly for further information.  At last bang went another shot,
and then a second volley of yells from the hills.  Again all was
quiet, and continued so for such a length of time that I began to
think the contending armies had agreed upon a suspension of
hostilities; when pop went a third gun, followed as before with a
yell.  After this, for nearly two hours nothing occurred worthy
of comment, save some straggling shouts from the hillside,
sounding like the halloos of a parcel of truant boys who had lost
themselves in the woods.

During this interval I had remained standing on the piazza of the
'Ti,' which directly fronted the Happar mountain, and with no one
near me but Kory-Kory and the old superannuated savages I have
described.  These latter never stirred from their mats, and
seemed altogether unconscious that anything unusual was going on.

As for Kory-Kory, he appeared to think that we were in the midst
of great events, and sought most zealously to impress me with a
due sense of their importance.  Every sound that reached us
conveyed some momentous item of intelligence to him.  At such
times, as if he were gifted with second sight, he would go
through a variety of pantomimic illustrations, showing me the
precise manner in which the redoubtable Typees were at that very
moment chastising the insolence of the enemy.  'Mehevi hanna
pippee nuee Happar,' he exclaimed every five minutes, giving me
to understand that under that distinguished captain the warriors
of his nation were performing prodigies of valour.

Having heard only four reports from the muskets, I was led to
believe that they were worked by the islanders in the same manner
as the Sultan Solyman's ponderous artillery at the siege of
Byzantium, one of them taking an hour or two to load and train.  
At last, no sound whatever proceeding from the mountains, I
concluded that the contest had been determined one way or the
other.  Such appeared, indeed, to be the case, for in a little
while a courier arrived at the 'Ti', almost breathless with his
exertions, and communicated the news of a great victory having
been achieved by his countrymen: 'Happar poo arva!--Happar poo
arva!' (the cowards had fled).  Kory-Kory was in ecstasies, and
commenced a vehement harangue, which, so far as I understood it,
implied that the result exactly agreed with his expectations, and
which, moreover, was intended to convince me that it would be a
perfectly useless undertaking, even for an army of fire-eaters,
to offer battle to the irresistible heroes of our valley.  In all
this I of course acquiesced, and looked forward with no little
interest to the return of the conquerors, whose victory I feared
might not have been purchased without cost to themselves.

But here I was again mistaken; for Mehevi, in conducting his
warlike operations, rather inclined to the Fabian than to the
Bonapartean tactics, husbanding his resources and exposing his
troops to no unnecessary hazards.  The total loss of the victors
in this obstinately contested affair was, in killed, wounded, and
missing--one forefinger and part of a thumb-nail (which the late
proprietor brought along with him in his hand), a severely
contused arm, and a considerable effusion of blood flowing from
the thigh of a chief, who had received an ugly thrust from a
Happar spear.  What the enemy had suffered I could not discover,
but I presume they had succeeded in taking off with them the
bodies of their slain.

Such was the issue of the battle, as far as its results came
under my observation: and as it appeared to be considered an
event of prodigious importance, I reasonably concluded that the
wars of the natives were marked by no very sanguinary traits.  I
afterwards learned how the skirmish had originated.  A number of
the Happars had been discovered prowling for no good purpose on
the Typee side of the mountain; the alarm sounded, and the
invaders, after a protracted resistance, had been chased over the
frontier.  But why had not the intrepid Mehevi carried the war
into Happar?  Why had he not made a descent into the hostile
vale, and brought away some trophy of his victory--some materials
for the cannibal entertainment which I had heard usually
terminated every engagement?  After all, I was much inclined to
believe that these shocking festivals must occur very rarely
among the islanders, if, indeed, they ever take place.

For two or three days the late event was the theme of general
comment; after which the excitement gradually wore away, and the
valley resumed its accustomed tranquility.



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

SWIMMING IN COMPANY WITH THE GIRLS OF THE VALLEY--A
CANOE--EFFECTS OF THE TABOO--A PLEASURE EXCURSION ON THE
POND--BEAUTIFUL FREAK OF FAYAWAY--MANTUA-MAKING--A STRANGER
ARRIVES IN THE VALLEY--HIS MYSTERIOUS CONDUCT--NATIVE
ORATORY--THE INTERVIEW--ITS RESULTS--DEPARTURE OF THE STRANGER

RETURNING health and peace of mind gave a new interest to
everything around me.  I sought to diversify my time by as many
enjoyments as lay within my reach.  Bathing in company with
troops of girls formed one of my chief amusements.  We sometimes
enjoyed the recreation in the waters of a miniature lake, to
which the central stream of the valley expanded.  This lovely
sheet of water was almost circular in figure, and about three
hundred yards across.  Its beauty was indescribable.  All around
its banks waved luxuriant masses of tropical foliage, soaring
high above which were seen, here and there, the symmetrical shaft
of the cocoanut tree, surmounted by its tufts of graceful
branches, drooping in the air like so many waving ostrich plumes.

The ease and grace with which the maidens of the valley propelled
themselves through the water, and their familiarity with the
element, were truly astonishing.  Sometimes the might be seen
gliding along just under the surface, without apparently moving
hand or foot--then throwing themselves on their sides, they
darted through the water, revealing glimpses of their forms, as,
in the course of their rapid progress, they shot for an instant
partly into the air--at one moment they dived deep down into the
water, and the next they rose bounding to the surface.

I remember upon one occasion plunging in among a parcel of these
river-nymphs, and counting vainly on my superior strength, sought
to drag some of them under the water, but I quickly repented my
temerity.  The amphibious young creatures swarmed about me like a
shoal of dolphins, and seizing hold of my devoted limbs, tumbled
me about and ducked me under the surface, until from the strange
noises which rang in my ears, and the supernatural visions
dancing before my eyes, I thought I was in the land of the
spirits.  I stood indeed as little chance among them as a
cumbrous whale attacked on all sides by a legion of swordfish.  
When at length they relinquished their hold of me, they swam away
in every direction, laughing at my clumsy endeavours to to reach
them.

There was no boat on the lake; but at my solicitation and for my
special use, some of the,young men attached to Marheyo's
household, under the direction of the indefatigable Kory-Kory,
brought up a light and tastefully carved canoe from the sea.  It
was launched upon the sheet of water, and floated there as
gracefully as a swan.  But, melancholy to relate, it produced an
effect I had not anticipated.  The sweet nymphs, who had sported
with me before on the lake, now all fled its vicinity.  The
prohibited craft, guarded by the edicts of the 'taboo,' extended
the prohibition to the waters in which it lay.

For a few days, Kory-Kory, with one or two other youths,
accompanied me in my excursions to the lake, and while I paddled
about in my light canoe, would swim after me shouting and
gambolling in pursuit.  But I as ever partial to what is termed
in the 'Young Men's Own Book'--'the society of virtuous and
intelligent young ladies;' and in the absence of the mermaids,
the amusement became dull and insipid.  One morning I expressed
to my faithful servitor my desire for the return of the nymphs.  
The honest fellow looked at me bewildered for a moment,, and then
shook his head solemnly, and murmured 'taboo!  taboo!' giving me
to understand that unless the canoe was removed I could not
expect to have the young ladies back again.  But to this
procedure I was averse; I not only wanted the canoe to stay where
it was, but I wanted the beauteous Fayaway to get into it, and
paddle with me about the lake.  This latter proposition
completely horrified Kory-Kory's notions of propriety.  He
inveighed against it, as something too monstrous to be thought
of.  It not only shocked their established notions of propriety,
but was at variance with all their religious ordinances.

However, although the 'taboo' was a ticklish thing to meddle
with, I determined to test its capabilities of resisting an
attack.  I consulted the chief Mehevi, who endeavoured to
dissuade me from my object; but I was not to be repulsed; and
accordingly increased the warmth of my solicitations.  At last he
entered into a long, and I have no doubt a very learned and
eloquent exposition of the history and nature of the 'taboo' as
affecting this particular case; employing a variety of most
extraordinary words, which, from their amazing length and
sonorousness, I have every reason to believe were of a
theological nature.  But all that he said failed to convince me:
partly, perhaps, because I could not comprehend a word that he
uttered; but chiefly, that for the life of me I could not
understand why a woman would not have as much right to enter a
canoe as a man.  At last he became a little more rational, and
intimated that, out of the abundant love he bore me, he would
consult with the priests and see what could be done.

How it was that the priesthood of Typee satisfied the affair with
their consciences, I know not; but so it was, and Fayaway
dispensation from this portion of the taboo was at length
procured.  Such an event I believe never before had occurred in
the valley; but it was high time the islanders should be taught a
little gallantry, and I trust that the example I set them may
produce beneficial effects.  Ridiculous, indeed, that the lovely
creatures should be obliged to paddle about in the water, like so
many ducks, while a parcel of great strapping fellows skimmed
over its surface in their canoes.

The first day after Fayaway's emancipation, I had a delightful
little party on the lake--the damsels' Kory-Kory, and myself.  My
zealous body-servant brought from the house a calabash of
poee-poee, half a dozen young cocoanuts--stripped of their
husks--three pipes, as many yams, and me on his back a part of
the way.  Something of a load; but Kory-Kory was a very strong
man for his size, and by no means brittle in the spine.  We had a
very pleasant day; my trusty valet plied the paddle and swept us
gently along the margin of the water, beneath the shades of the
overhanging thickets.  Fayaway and I reclined in the stern of the
canoe, on the very best terms possible with one another; the
gentle nymph occasionally placing her pipe to her lip, and
exhaling the mild fumes of the tobacco, to which her rosy breath
added a fresh perfume.  Strange as it may seem, there is nothing
in which a young and beautiful female appears to more advantage
than in the act of smoking.  How captivating is a Peruvian lady,
swinging in her gaily-woven hammock of grass, extended between
two orange-trees, and inhaling the fragrance of a choice cigarro!

But Fayaway, holding in her delicately formed olive hand the long
yellow reed of her pipe, with its quaintly carved bowl, and every
few moments languishingly giving forth light wreaths of vapour
from her mouth and nostrils, looked still more engaging.

We floated about thus for several hours, when I looked up to the
warm, glowing, tropical sky, and then down into the transparent
depths below; and when my eye, wandering from the bewitching
scenery around, fell upon the grotesquely-tattooed form of
Kory-Kory, and finally, encountered the pensive gaze of Fayaway,
I thought I had been transported to some fairy region, so unreal
did everything appear.

This lovely piece of water was the coolest spot in all the
valley, and I now made it a place of continual resort during the
hottest period of the day.  One side of it lay near the
termination of a long gradually expanding gorge, which mounted to
the heights that environed the vale.  The strong trade wind, met
in its course by these elevations, circled and eddied about their
summits, and was sometimes driven down the steep ravine and swept
across the valley, ruffling in its passage the otherwise tranquil
surface of the lake.

One day, after we had been paddling about for some time, I
disembarked Kory-Kory, and paddled the canoe to the windward side
of the lake.  As I turned the canoe, Fayaway, who was with me,
seemed all at once to be struck with some happy idea.  With a
wild exclamation of delight, she disengaged from her person the
ample robe of tappa which was knotted over her shoulder (for the
purpose of shielding her from the sun), and spreading it out like
a sail, stood erect with upraised arms in the head of the canoe.  
We American sailors pride ourselves upon our straight, clean
spars, but a prettier little mast than Fayaway made was never
shipped aboard of any craft.

In a moment the tappa was distended by the breeze--the long brown
tresses of Fayaway streamed in the air--and the canoe glided
rapidly through the water, and shot towards the shore.  Seated in
the stem, I directed its course with my paddle until it dashed up
the soft sloping bank, and Fayaway, with a light spring alighted
on the ground; whilst Kory-Kory, who had watched our manoeuvres
with admiration, now clapped his hands in transport, and shouted
like a madman.  Many a time afterwards was this feat repeated.

If the reader has not observed ere this that I was the declared
admirer of Miss Fayaway, all I can say is that he is little
conversant with affairs of the heart, and I certainly shall not
trouble myself to enlighten him any farther.  Out of the calico I
had brought from the ship I made a dress for this lovely girl.  
In it she looked, I must confess, something like an opera-dancer.

The drapery of the latter damsel generally commences a little
above the elbows, but my island beauty's began at the waist, and
terminated sufficiently far above the ground to reveal the most
bewitching ankle in the universe.

The day that Fayaway first wore this robe was rendered memorable
by a new acquaintance being introduced to me.  In the afternoon I
was lying in the house when I heard a great uproar outside; but
being by this time pretty well accustomed to the wild halloos
which were almost continually ringing through the valley, I paid
little attention to it, until old Marheyo, under the influence of
some strange excitement, rushed into my presence and communicated
the astounding tidings, 'Marnoo pemi!' which being interpreted,
implied that an individual by the name of Marnoo was approaching.

My worthy old friend evidently expected that this intelligence
would produce a great effect upon me, and for a time he stood
earnestly regarding me, as if curious to see how I should conduct
myself, but as I remained perfectly unmoved, the old gentleman
darted out of the house again, in as great a hurry as he had
entered it.

'Marnoo, Marnoo,' cogitated I, 'I have never heard that name
before.  Some distinguished character, I presume, from the
prodigious riot the natives are making;' the tumultuous noise
drawing nearer and nearer every moment, while 'Marnoo!--Marnoo!'
was shouted by every tongue.

I made up my mind that some savage warrior of consequence, who
had not yet enjoyed the honour of an audience, was desirous of
paying his respects on the present occasion.  So vain had I
become by the lavish attention to which I had been accustomed,
that I felt half inclined, as a punishment for such neglect, to
give this Marnoo a cold reception, when the excited throng came
within view, convoying one of the most striking specimens of
humanity that I ever beheld.

The stranger could not have been more than twenty-five years of
age, and was a little above the ordinary height; had he a single
hair's breadth taller, the matchless symmetry of his form would
have been destroyed.  His unclad limbs were beautifully formed;
whilst the elegant outline of his figure, together with his
beardless cheeks, might have entitled him to the distinction of
standing for the statue of the Polynesian Apollo; and indeed the
oval of his countenance and the regularity of every feature
reminded one of an antique bust.  But the marble repose of art
was supplied by a warmth and liveliness of expression only to be
seen in the South Sea Islander under the most favourable
developments of nature.  The hair of Marnoo was a rich curling
brown, and twined about his temples and neck in little close
curling ringlets, which danced up and down continually, when he
was animated in conversation.  His cheek was of a feminine
softness, and his face was free from the least blemish of
tattooing, although the rest of his body was drawn all over with
fanciful figures, which--unlike the unconnected sketching usual
among these natives--appeared to have been executed in conformity
with some general design.

The tattooing on his back in particular attracted my attention.  
The artist employed must indeed have excelled in his profession.  
Traced along the course of the spine was accurately delineated
the slender, tapering and diamond checkered shaft of the
beautiful 'artu' tree.  Branching from the stem on each side, and
disposed alternately, were the graceful branches drooping with
leaves all correctly drawn and elaborately finished.  Indeed the
best specimen of the Fine Arts I had yet seen in Typee.  A rear
view of the stranger might have suggested the idea of a spreading
vine tacked against a garden wall.  Upon his breast, arms and
legs, were exhibited an infinite variety of figures; every one of
which, however, appeared to have reference to the general effect
sought to be produced.  The tattooing I have described was of the
brightest blue, and when contrasted with the light olive-colour
of the skin, produced an unique and even elegant effect.  A
slight girdle of white tappa, scarcely two inches in width, but
hanging before and behind in spreading tassels, composed the
entire costume of the stranger.

He advanced surrounded by the islanders, carrying under one arm a
small roll of native cloth, and grasping in his other hand a long
and richly decorated spear.  His manner was that of a traveller
conscious that he is approaching a comfortable stage in his
journey.  Every moment he turned good-humouredly on the throng
around him, and gave some dashing sort of reply to their
incessant queries, which appeared to convulse them with
uncontrollable mirth.

Struck by his demeanour, and the peculiarity of his appearance,
so unlike that of the shaven-crowned and face-tattooed natives in
general, I involuntarily rose as he entered the house, and
proffered him a seat on the mats beside me.  But without deigning
to notice the civility, or even the more incontrovertible fact of
my existence, the stranger passed on, utterly regardless of me,
and flung himself upon the further end of the long couch that
traversed the sole apartment of Marheyo's habitation.

Had the belle of the season, in the pride of her beauty and
power, been cut in a place of public resort by some supercilious
exquisite, she could not have felt greater indignation than I did
at this unexpected slight.

I was thrown into utter astonishment.  The conduct of the savages
had prepared me to anticipate from every newcomer the same
extravagant expressions of curiosity and regard.  The singularity
of his conduct, however, only roused my desire to discover who
this remarkable personage might be, who now engrossed the
attention of every one.

Tinor placed before him a calabash of poee-poee, from which the
stranger regaled himself, alternating every mouthful with some
rapid exclamation, which was eagerly caught up and echoed by the
crowd that completely filled the house.  When I observed the
striking devotion of the natives to him, and their temporary
withdrawal of all attention from myself, I felt not a little
piqued.  The glory of Tommo is departed, thought I, and the
sooner he removes from the valley the better.  These were my
feelings at the moment, and they were prompted by that glorious
principle inherent in all heroic natures--the strong-rooted
determination to have the biggest share of the pudding or to go
without any of it.

Marnoo, that all-attractive personage, having satisfied his
hunger and inhaled a few whiffs from a pipe which was handed to
him, launched out into an harangue which completely enchained the
attention of his auditors.

Little as I understood of the language, yet from his animated
gestures and the varying expression of his features--reflected as
from so many mirrors in the countenances around him, I could
easily discover the nature of those passions which he sought to
arouse.  From the frequent recurrence of the words 'Nukuheva' and
'Frannee' (French), and some others with the meaning of which I
was acquainted, he appeared to be rehearsing to his auditors
events which had recently occurred in the neighbouring bays.  But
how he had gained the knowledge of these matters I could not
understand, unless it were that he had just come from Nukuheva--a
supposition which his travel-stained appearance not a little
supported.  But, if a native of that region, I could not account
for his friendly reception at the hands of the Typees.

Never, certainly, had I beheld so powerful an exhibition of
natural eloquence as Marnoo displayed during the course of his
oration.  The grace of the attitudes into which he threw his
flexible figure, the striking gestures of his naked arms, and
above all, the fire which shot from his brilliant eyes, imparted
an effect to the continually changing accents of his voice, of
which the most accomplished orator might have been proud.  At one
moment reclining sideways upon the mat, and leaning calmly upon
his bended arm, he related circumstantially the aggressions of
the French--their hostile visits to the surrounding bays,
enumerating each one in succession--Happar, Puerka, Nukuheva,
Tior,--and then starting to his feet and precipitating himself
forward with clenched hands and a countenance distorted with
passion, he poured out a tide of invectives.  Falling back into
an attitude of lofty command, he exhorted the Typees to resist
these encroachments; reminding them, with a fierce glance of
exultation, that as yet the terror of their name had preserved
them from attack, and with a scornful sneer he sketched in
ironical terms the wondrous intrepidity of the French, who, with
five war-canoes and hundreds of men, had not dared to assail the
naked warriors of their valley.

The effect he produced upon his audience was electric; one and
all they stood regarding him with sparkling eyes and trembling
limbs, as though they were listening to the inspired voice of a
prophet.

But it soon appeared that Marnoo's powers were as versatile as
they were extraordinary.  As soon as he had finished his vehement
harangue, he threw himself again upon the mats, and, singling out
individuals in the crowd, addressed them by name, in a sort of
bantering style, the humour of which, though nearly hidden from
me filled the whole assembly with uproarious delight.

He had a word for everybody; and, turning rapidly from one to
another, gave utterance to some hasty witticism, which was sure
to be followed by peals of laughter.  To the females as well as
to the men, he addressed his discourse.  Heaven only knows what
he said to them, but he caused smiles and blushes to mantle their
ingenuous faces.  I am, indeed, very much inclined to believe
that Marnoo, with his handsome person and captivating manners,
was a sad deceiver among the simple maidens of the island.

During all this time he had never, for one moment, deigned to
regard me.  He appeared, indeed, to be altogether unconscious of
my presence.  I was utterly at a loss how to account for this
extraordinary conduct.  I easily perceived that he was a man of
no little consequence among the islanders; that he possessed
uncommon talents; and was gifted with a higher degree of
knowledge than the inmates of the valley.  For these reasons, I
therefore greatly feared lest having, from some cause or other,
unfriendly feelings towards me, he might exert his powerful
influence to do me mischief.

It seemed evident that he was not a permanent resident of the
vale, and yet, whence could he have come?  On all sides the
Typees were girt in by hostile tribes, and how could he possibly,
if belonging to any of these, be received with so much
cordiality?

The person appearance of the enigmatical stranger suggested
additional perplexities.  The face, free from tattooing, and the
unshaven crown, were peculiarities I had never before remarked in
any part of the island, end I had always heard that the contrary
were considered the indispensable distinction of a Marquesan
warrior.  Altogether the matter was perfectly incomprehensible to
me, and I awaited its solution with no small degree of anxiety.

At length, from certain indications, I suspected that he was
making me the subject of his remarks, although he appeared
cautiously to avoid either pronouncing my name, or looking in the
direction where I lay.  All at once he rose from the mats where
he had been reclining, and, still conversing, moved towards me,
his eye purposely evading mine, and seated himself within less
than a yard of me.  I had hardly recovered from my surprise, when
he suddenly turned round, and, with a most benignant countenance
extended his right hand gracefully towards me.  Of course I
accepted the courteous challenge, and, as soon as our palms met,
he bent towards me, and murmured in musical accents--'How you
do?'  'How long you been in this bay?'  'You like this bay?'

Had I been pierced simultaneously by three Happar spears, I could
not have started more than I did at hearing these simple
questions.  For a moment I was overwhelmed with astonishment, and
then answered something I know not what; but as soon as I
regained my self-possession, the thought darted through my mind
that from this individual I might obtain that information
regarding Toby which I suspected the natives had purposely
withheld from me.  Accordingly I questioned him concerning the
disappearance of my companion, but he denied all knowledge of the
matter.  I then inquired from whence he had come?  He replied,
from Nukuheva.  When I expressed my surprise, he looked at me for
a moment, as if enjoying my perplexity, and then with his strange
vivacity, exclaimed,--'Ah!  me taboo,--me go Nukuheva,--me go
Tior,--me go Typee,--me go everywhere,--nobody harm me,--me
taboo.'

This explanation would have been altogether unintelligible to me,
had it not recalled to my mind something I had previously heard
concerning a singular custom among these islanders.  Though the
country is possessed by various tribes, whose mutual hostilities
almost wholly prelude any intercourse between them; yet there are
instances where a person having ratified friendly relations with
some individual belonging longing to the valley, whose inmates
are at war with his own, may, under particular restrictions,
venture with impunity into the country of his friend, where,
under other circumstances, he would have been treated as an
enemy.  In this light are personal friendships regarded among
them, and the individual so protected is said to be 'taboo', and
his person, to a certain extent, is held as sacred.  Thus the
stranger informed me he had access to all the valleys in the
island.

Curious to know how he had acquired his knowledge of English, I
questioned him on the subject.  At first, for some reason or
other, he evaded the inquiry, but afterwards told me that, when a
boy, he had been carried to sea by the captain of a trading
vessel, with whom he had stayed three years, living part of the
time with him at Sidney in Australia, and that at a subsequent
visit to the island, the captain had, at his own request,
permitted him to remain among his countrymen.  The natural
quickness of the savage had been wonderfully improved by his
intercourse with the white men, and his partial knowledge of a
foreign language gave him a great ascendancy over his less
accomplished countrymen.

When I asked the now affable Marnoo why it was that he had not
previously spoken to me, he eagerly inquired what I had been led
to think of him from his conduct in that respect.  I replied,
that I had supposed him to be some great chief or warrior, who
had seen plenty of white men before, and did not think it worth
while to notice a poor sailor.  At this declaration of the
exalted opinion I had formed of him, he appeared vastly
gratified, and gave me to understand that he had purposely
behaved in that manner, in order to increase my astonishment, as
soon as he should see proper to address me.

Marnoo now sought to learn my version of the story as to how I
came to be an inmate of the Typee valley.  When I related to him
the circumstances under which Toby and I had entered it, he
listened with evident interest; but as soon as I alluded to the
absence, yet unaccounted for, of my comrade, he endeavoured to
change the subject, as if it were something he desired not to
agitate.  It seemed, indeed, as if everything connected with Toby
was destined to beget distrust and anxiety in my bosom.  
Notwithstanding Marnoo's denial of any knowledge of his fate, I
could not avoid suspecting that he was deceiving me; and this
suspicion revived those frightful apprehensions with regard to my
own fate, which, for a short time past, had subsided in my
breast.

Influenced by these feelings, I now felt a strong desire to avail
myself of the stranger's protection, and under his safeguard to
return to Nukuheva.  But as soon as I hinted at this, he
unhesitatingly pronounced it to be entirely impracticable;
assuring me that the Typees would never consent to my leaving the
valley.  Although what he said merely confirmed the impression
which I had before entertained, still it increased my anxiety to
escape from a captivity which, however endurable, nay, delightful
it might be in some respects, involved in its issues a fate
marked by the most frightful contingencies.

I could not conceal from my mind that Toby had been treated in
the same friendly manner as I had been, and yet all their
kindness terminated with his mysterious disappearance.  Might not
the same fate await me?--a fate too dreadful to think of.  
Stimulated by these considerations, I urged anew my request to
Marnoo; but he only set forth in stronger colours the
impossibility of my escape, and repeated his previous declaration
that the Typees would never be brought to consent to my
departure.

When I endeavoured to learn from him the motives which prompted
them to hold me a prisoner, Marnoo again presumed that mysterious
tone which had tormented me with apprehension when I had
questioned him with regard to the fate of my companion.

Thus repulsed, in a manner which only served, by arousing the
most dreadful forebodings, to excite me to renewed attempts, I
conjured him to intercede for me with the natives, and endeavour
to procure their consent to my leaving them.  To this he appeared
strongly averse; but, yielding at last to my importunities, he
addressed several of the chiefs, who with the rest had been
eyeing us intently during the whole of our conversation.  His
petition, however, was at once met with the most violent
disapprobation, manifesting itself in angry glances and gestures,
and a perfect torrent of passionate words, directed to both him
and myself.  Marnoo, evidently repenting the step he had taken,
earnestly deprecated the resentment of the crowd, and, in a few
moments succeeded in pacifying to some extent the clamours which
had broken out as soon as his proposition had been understood.

With the most intense interest had I watched the reception his
intercession might receive; and a bitter pang shot through my
heart at the additional evidence, now furnished, of the
unchangeable determination of the islanders.  Marnoo told me with
evident alarm in his countenance, that although admitted into the
bay on a friendly footing with its inhabitants, he could not
presume to meddle with their concerns, as such procedure, if
persisted in, would at once absolve the Typees from the
restraints of the 'taboo', although so long as he refrained from
such conduct, it screened him effectually from the consequences
of the enmity they bore his tribe.  At this moment, Mehevi, who
was present, angrily interrupted him; and the words which he
uttered in a commanding tone, evidently meant that he must at
once cease talking to me and withdraw to the other part of the
house.  Marnoo immediately started up, hurriedly enjoining me not
to address him again, and as I valued my safety, to refrain from
all further allusion to the subject of my departure; and then, in
compliance with the order of the determined chief, but not before
it had again been angrily repeated, he withdrew to a distance.

I now perceived, with no small degree of apprehension, the same
savage expression in the countenances of the natives, which had
startled me during the scene at the Ti.  They glanced their eyes
suspiciously from Marnoo to me, as if distrusting the nature of
an intercourse carried on, as it was, in a language they could
not understand, and they seemed to harbour the belief that
already we had concerted measures calculated to elude their
vigilance.

The lively countenances of these people are wonderfully
indicative of the emotions of the soul, and the imperfections of
their oral language are more than compensated for by the nervous
eloquence of their looks and gestures.  I could plainly trace, in
every varying expression of their faces, all those passions which
had been thus unexpectedly aroused in their bosoms.

It required no reflection to convince me, from what was going on,
that the injunction of Marnoo was not to be rashly lighted ,and
accordingly, great as was the effort to suppress my feelings, I
accosted Mehevi in a good-humoured tone, with a view of
dissipating any ill impression he might have received.  But the
ireful, angry chief was not so easily mollified.  He rejected my
advances with that peculiarly stern expression I have before
described, and took care by the whole of his behaviour towards me
to show the displeasure and resentment which he felt.

Marnoo, at the other extremity of the house, apparently desirous
of making a diversion in my favour, exerted himself to amuse with
his pleasantries the crowd about him; but his lively attempts
were not so successful as they had previously been, and, foiled
in his efforts, he rose gravely to depart.  No one expressed any
regret at this movement, so seizing his roll of tappa, and
grasping his spear, he advanced to the front of the pi-pi, and
waving his hand in adieu to the now silent throng, cast upon me a
glance of mingled pity and reproach, and flung himself into the
path which led from the house.  I watched his receding figure
until it was lost in the obscurity of the grove, and then gave
myself up to the most desponding reflections.



CHAPTER NINETEEN

REFLECTIONS AFTER MARNOO'S DEPARTURE-BATTLE OF THE
POP-GUNS--STRANGE CONCEIT OF MARHEYO--PROCESS OF MAKING TAPPA

THE knowledge I had now obtained as to the intention of the
savages deeply affected me.

Marnoo, I perceived, was a man who, by reason of his superior
acquirements, and the knowledge he possessed of the events which
were taking place in the different bays of the island, was held
in no little estimation by the inhabitants of the valley.  He had
been received with the most cordial welcome and respect.  The
natives had hung upon the accents of his voice, and, had
manifested the highest gratification at being individually
noticed by him.  And yet despite all this, a few words urged in
my behalf, with the intent of obtaining my release from
captivity, had sufficed not only to banish all harmony and
good-will; but, if I could believe what he told me, had gone on
to endanger his own personal safety.

How strongly rooted, then, must be the determination of the
Typees with regard to me, and how suddenly could they display the
strangest passions!  The mere suggestion of my departure had
estranged from me, for the time at least, Mehevi, who was the
most influential of all the chiefs, and who had previously
exhibited so many instances of his; friendly sentiments.  The
rest of the natives had likewise evinced their strong repugnance
to my wishes, and even Kory-Kory himself seemed to share in the
general disapprobation bestowed upon me.

In vain I racked my invention to find out some motive for them,
but I could discover none.

But however this might be, the scene which had just occurred
admonished me of the danger of trifling with the wayward and
passionate spirits against whom it was vain to struggle, and
might even be fatal to do go.  My only hope was to induce the
natives to believe that I was reconciled to my detention in the
valley, and by assuming a tranquil and cheerful demeanour, to
allay the suspicions which I had so unfortunately aroused.  Their
confidence revived, they might in a short time remit in some
degree their watchfulness over my movements, and I should then be
the better enabled to avail myself of any opportunity which
presented itself for escape.  I determined, therefore, to make
the best of a bad bargain, and to bear up manfully against
whatever might betide.  In this endeavour, I succeeded beyond my
own expectations.  At the period of Marnoo's visit, I had been in
the valley, as nearly as I could conjecture, some two months.
Although not completely recovered from my strange illness, which
still lingered about me, I was free from pain and able to take
exercise.  In short, I had every reason to anticipate a perfect
recovery.  Freed from apprehension on this point, and resolved to
regard the future without flinching, I flung myself anew into all
the social pleasures of the valley, and sought to bury all
regrets, and all remembrances of my previous existence in the
wild enjoyments it afforded.

In my various wanderings through the vale, and as I became better
acquainted with the character of its inhabitants, I was more and
more struck with the light-hearted joyousness that everywhere
prevailed.  The minds of these simple savages, unoccupied by
matters of graver moment, were capable of deriving the utmost
delight from circumstances which would have passed unnoticed in
more intelligent communities.  All their enjoyment, indeed,
seemed to be made up of the little trifling incidents of the
passing hour; but these diminutive items swelled altogether to an
amount of happiness seldom experienced by more enlightened
individuals, whose pleasures are drawn from more elevated but
rarer sources.

What community, for instance, of refined and intellectual mortals
would derive the least satisfaction from shooting pop-guns?  The
mere supposition of such a thing being possible would excite
their indignation, and yet the whole population of Typee did
little else for ten days but occupy themselves with that childish
amusement, fairly screaming, too, with the delight it afforded
them.

One day I was frolicking with a little spirited urchin, some six
years old, who chased me with a piece of bamboo about three feet
long, with which he occasionally belaboured me.  Seizing the
stick from him, the idea happened to suggest itself, that I might
make for the youngster, out of the slender tube, one of those
nursery muskets with which I had sometimes seen children playing.

Accordingly, with my knife I made two parallel slits in the cane
several inches in length, and cutting loose at one end the
elastic strip between them, bent it back and slipped the point
into a little notch made for the purse.  Any small substance
placed against this would be projected with considerable force
through the tube, by merely springing the bent strip out of the
notch.

Had I possessed the remotest idea of the sensation this piece of
ordnance was destined to produce, I should certainly have taken
out a patent for the invention.  The boy scampered away with it,
half delirious with ecstasy, and in twenty minutes afterwards I
might have been seen surrounded by a noisy crowd--venerable old
graybeards--responsible fathers of families--valiant
warriors--matrons--young men--girls and children, all holding in
their hands bits of bamboo, and each clamouring to be served
first.

For three or four hours I was engaged in manufacturing pop-guns,
but at last made over my good-will and interest in the concern to
a lad of remarkably quick parts, whom I soon initiated into the
art and mystery.

Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop, now resounded all over the valley.  Duels,
skirmishes, pitched battles, and general engagements were to be
seen on every side.  Here, as you walked along a path which led
through a thicket, you fell into a cunningly laid ambush, and
became a target for a body of musketeers whose tattooed limbs you
could just see peeping into view through the foliage.  There you
were assailed by the intrepid garrison of a house, who levelled
their bamboo rifles at you from between the upright canes which
composed its sides.  Farther on you were fired upon by a
detachment of sharpshooters, mounted upon the top of a pi-pi.

Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop!  green guavas, seeds, and berries were flying
about in every direction, and during this dangerous state of
affairs I was half afraid that, like the man and his brazen bull,
I should fall a victim to my own ingenuity.  Like everything
else, however, the excitement gradually wore away, though ever
after occasionally pop-guns might be heard at all hours of the
day.

It was towards the close of the pop-gun war, that I was
infinitely diverted with a strange freak of Marheyo's.

I had worn, when I quitted the ship, a pair of thick pumps,
which, from the rough usage they had received in scaling
precipices and sliding down gorges, were so dilapidated as to be
altogether unfit for use--so, at least, would have thought the
generality of people, and so they most certainly were, when
considered in the light of shoes.  But things unservicable in one
way, may with advantage be applied in another, that is, if one
have genius enough for the purpose.  This genius Marheyo
possessed in a superlative degree, as he abundantly evinced by
the use to which he put those sorely bruised and battered old
shoes.

Every article, however trivial, which belonged to me, the natives
appeared to regard as sacred; and I observed that for several
days after becoming an inmate of the house, my pumps were
suffered to remain, untouched, where I had first happened to
throw them.  I remembered, however, that after awhile I had
missed them from their accustomed place; but the matter gave me
no concern, supposing that Tinor--like any other tidy housewife,
having come across them in some of her domestic occupations--had
pitched the useless things out of the house.  But I was soon
undeceived.

One day I observed old Marheyo bustling about me with unusual
activity, and to such a degree as almost to supersede Kory-Kory
in the functions of his office.  One moment he volunteered to
trot off with me on his back to the stream; and when I refused,
noways daunted by the repulse, he continued to frisk about me
like a superannuated house-dog.  I could not for the life of me
conjecture what possessed the old gentleman, until all at once,
availing himself of the temporary absence of the household, he
went through a variety of of uncouth gestures, pointing eagerly
down to my feet, then up to a little bundle, which swung from the
ridge pole overhead.  At last I caught a faint idea of his
meaning, and motioned him to lower the package.  He executed the
order in the twinkling of an eye, and unrolling a piece of tappa,
displayed to my astonished gaze the identical pumps which I
thought had been destroyed long before.

I immediately comprehended his desire, and very generously gave
him the shoes, which had become quite mouldy, wondering for what
earthly purpose he could want them.  The same afternoon I
descried the venerable warrior approaching the house, with a
slow, stately gait, ear-rings in ears, and spear in hand, with
this highly ornamental pair of shoes suspended from his neck by a
strip of bark, and swinging backwards and forwards on his
capacious chest.  In the gala costume of the tasteful Marheyo,
these calf-skin pendants ever after formed the most striking
feature.

But to turn to something a little more important.  Although the
whole existence of the inhabitants of the valley seemed to pass
away exempt from toil, yet there were some light employments
which, although amusing rather than laborious as occupations,
contributed to their comfort and luxury.  Among these the most
important was the manufacture of the native cloth,--'tappa',--so
well known, under various modifications, throughout the whole
Polynesian Archipelago.  As is generally understood, this useful
and sometimes elegant article is fabricated from the bark of
different trees.  But, as I believe that no description of its
manufacture has ever been given, I shall state what I know
regarding it.

In the manufacture of the beautiful white tappa generally worn on
the Marquesan Islands, the preliminary operation consists in
gathering a certain quantity of the young branches of the
cloth-tree.  The exterior green bark being pulled off as
worthless, there remains a slender fibrous substance, which is
carefully stripped from the stick, to which it closely adheres.  
When a sufficient quantity of it has been collected, the various
strips are enveloped in a covering of large leaves, which the
natives use precisely as we do wrapping-paper, and which are
secured by a few turns of a line passed round them.  The package
is then laid in the bed of some running stream, with a heavy
stone placed over it, to prevent its being swept away.  After it
has remained for two or three days in this state, it is drawn
out, and exposed, for a short time, to the action of the air,
every distinct piece being attentively inspected, with a view of
ascertaining whether it has yet been sufficiently affected by the
operation.  This is repeated again and again, until the desired
result is obtained.

When the substance is in a proper state for the next process, it
betrays evidences of incipient decomposition; the fibres are
relaxed and softened, and rendered perfectly malleable.  The
different strips are now extended, one by one, in successive
layers, upon some smooth surface--generally the prostrate trunk
of a cocoanut tree--and the heap thus formed is subjected, at
every new increase, to a moderate beating, with a sort of wooden
mallet, leisurely applied.  The mallet is made of a hard heavy
wood resembling ebony, is about twelve inches in length, and
perhaps two in breadth, with a rounded handle at one end, and in
shape is the exact counterpart of one of our four-sided
razor-strops.  The flat surfaces of the implement are marked with
shallow parallel indentations, varying in depth on the different
sides, so as to be adapted to the several stages of the
operation.  These marks produce the corduroy sort of stripes
discernible in the tappa in its finished state.  After being
beaten in the manner I have described, the material soon becomes
blended in one mass, which, moistened occasionally with water, is
at intervals hammered out, by a kind of gold-beating process, to
any degree of thinness required.  In this way the cloth is easily
made to vary in strength and thickness, so as to suit the
numerous purposes to which it is applied.

When the operation last described has been concluded, the
new-made tappa is spread out on the grass to bleach and dry, and
soon becomes of a dazzling whiteness.  Sometimes, in the first
stages of the manufacture, the substance is impregnated with a
vegetable juice, which gives it a permanent colour.  A rich brown
and a bright yellow are occasionally seen, but the simple taste
of the Typee people inclines them to prefer the natural tint.

The notable wife of Kamehameha, the renowned conqueror and king
of the Sandwich Islands, used to pride herself in the skill she
displayed in dyeing her tappa with contrasting colours disposed
in regular figures; and, in the midst of the innovations of the
times, was regarded, towards the decline of her life, as a lady
of the old school, clinging as she did to the national cloth, in
preference to the frippery of the European calicoes.  But the art
of printing the tappa is unknown upon the Marquesan Islands.  In
passing along the valley, I was often attracted by the noise of
the mallet, which, when employed in the manufacture of the cloth
produces at every stroke of its hard, heavy wood, a clear,
ringing, and musical sound, capable of being heard at a great
distance.  When several of these implements happen to be in
operation at the same time, near one another, the effect upon the
ear of a person, at a little distance, is really charming.



CHAPTER TWENTY

HISTORY OF A DAY AS USUALLY SPENT IN TYPEE VALLEY--DANCES OF THE
MARQUESAN GIRLS

NOTHING can be more uniform and undiversified than the life of
the Typees; one tranquil day of ease and happiness follows
another in quiet succession; and with these unsophisicated
savages the history of a day is the history of a life.  I will,
therefore, as briefly as I can, describe one of our days in the
valley.

To begin with the morning.  We were not very early risers--the
sun would be shooting his golden spikes above the Happar
mountain, ere I threw aside my tappa robe, and girding my long
tunic about my waist, sallied out with Fayaway and Kory-Kory, and
the rest of the household, and bent my steps towards the stream.  
Here we found congregated all those who dwelt in our section of
the valley; and here we bathed with them.  The fresh morning air
and the cool flowing waters put both soul and body in a glow, and
after a half-hour employed in this recreation, we sauntered back
to the house--Tinor and Marheyo gathering dry sticks by the way
for fire-wood; some of the young men laying the cocoanut trees
under contribution as they passed beneath them; while Kory-Kory
played his outlandish pranks for my particular diversion, and
Fayaway and I, not arm in arm to be sure, but sometimes hand in
hand, strolled along, with feelings of perfect charity for all
the world, and especial good-will towards each other.

Our morning meal was soon prepared.  The islanders are somewhat
abstemious at this repast; reserving the more powerful efforts of
their appetite to a later period of the day.  For my own part,
with the assistance of my valet, who, as I have before stated,
always officiated as spoon on these occasions, I ate sparingly
from one of Tinor's trenchers, of poee-poee; which was devoted
exclusively for my own use, being mixed with the milky meat of
ripe cocoanut.  A section of a roasted bread-fruit, a small cake
of 'Amar', or a mess of 'Cokoo,' two or three bananas, or a
mammee-apple; an annuee, or some other agreeable and nutritious
fruit served from day to day to diversify the meal, which was
finished by tossing off the liquid contents of a young cocoanut
or two.

While partaking of this simple repast, the inmates of Marheyo's
house, after the style of the ancient Romans, reclined in
sociable groups upon the divan of mats, and digestion was
promoted by cheerful conversation.

After the morning meal was concluded, pipes were lighted; and
among them my own especial pipe, a present from the noble Mehevi.

The islanders, who only smoke a whiff or two at a time, and at
long intervals, and who keep their pipes going from hand to hand
continually, regarded my systematic smoking of four or five
pipefuls of tobacco in succession, as something quite wonderful.  
When two or three pipes had circulated freely, the company
gradually broke up.  Marheyo went to the little hut he was
forever building.  Tinor began to inspect her rolls of tappa, or
employed her busy fingers in plaiting grass-mats.  The girls
anointed themselves with their fragrant oils, dressed their hair,
or looked over their curious finery, and compared together their
ivory trinkets, fashioned out of boar's tusks or whale's teeth.  
The young men and warriors produced their spears, paddles,
canoe-gear, battle-clubs, and war-conchs, and occupied themselves
in carving, all sorts of figures upon them with pointed bits of
shell or flint, and adorning them, especially the war-conchs,
with tassels of braided bark and tufts of human hair.  Some,
immediately after eating, threw themselves once more upon the
inviting mats, and resumed the employment of the previous night,
sleeping as soundly as if they had not closed their eyes for a
week.  Others sallied out into the groves, for the purpose of
gathering fruit or fibres of bark and leaves; the last two being
in constant requisition, and applied to a hundred uses.  A few,
perhaps, among the girls, would slip into the woods after
flowers, or repair to the stream will; small calabashes and
cocoanut shells, in order to polish them by friction with a
smooth stone in the water.  In truth these innocent people seemed
to be at no loss for something to occupy their time; and it would
be no light task to enumerate all their employments, or rather
pleasures.

My own mornings I spent in a variety of ways.  Sometimes I
rambled about from house to house, sure of receiving a cordial
welcome wherever I went; or from grove to grove, and from one
shady place to another, in company with Kory-Kory and Fayaway,
and a rabble rout of merry young idlers.  Sometimes I was too
indolent for exercise, and accepting one of the many invitations
I was continually receiving, stretched myself out on the mats of
some hospitable dwelling, and occupied myself pleasantly either
in watching the proceedings of those around me or taking part in
them myself.  Whenever I chose to do the latter, the delight of
the islanders was boundless; and there was always a throng of
competitors for the honour of instructing me in any particular
craft.  I soon became quite an accomplished hand at making
tappa--could braid a grass sling as well as the best of them--and
once, with my knife, carved the handle of a javelin so
exquisitely, that I have no doubt, to this day, Karnoonoo, its
owner, preserves it as a surprising specimen of my skill.  As
noon approached, all those who had wandered forth from our
habitation, began to return; and when midday was fairly come
scarcely a sound was to be heard in the valley: a deep sleep fell
upon all.  The luxurious siesta was hardly ever omitted, except
by old Marheyo, who was so eccentric a character, that he seemed
to be governed by no fixed principles whatever; but acting just
according to the humour of the moment, slept, eat, or tinkered
away at his little hut, without regard to the proprieties of time
or place.  Frequently he might have been seen taking a nap in the
sun at noon-day, or a bath in the stream of mid-night.  Once I
beheld him perched eighty feet from the ground, in the tuft of a
cocoanut tree, smoking; and often I saw him standing up to the
waist in water, engaged in plucking out the stray hairs of his
beard, using a piece of muscle-shell for tweezers.

The noon-tide slumber lasted generally an hour and a half: very
often longer; and after the sleepers had arisen from their mats
they again had recourse to their pipes, and then made
preparations for the most important meal of the day.

I, however, like those gentlemen of leisure who breakfast at home
and dine at their club, almost invariably, during my intervals of
health, enjoyed the afternoon repast with the bachelor chiefs of
the Ti, who were always rejoiced to see me, and lavishly spread
before me all the good things which their larder afforded.  
Mehevi generally introduced among other dainties a baked pig, an
article which I have every reason to suppose was provided for my
sole gratification.

The Ti was a right jovial place.  It did my heart, as well as my
body, good to visit it.  Secure from female intrusion, there was
no restraint upon the hilarity of the warriors, who, like the
gentlemen of Europe after the cloth is drawn and the ladies
retire, freely indulged their mirth.

After spending a considerable portion of the afternoon at the Ti,
I usually found myself, as the cool of the evening came on,
either sailing on the little lake with Fayaway, or bathing in the
waters of the stream with a number of the savages, who, at this
hour, always repaired thither.  As the shadows of night
approached Marheyo's household were once more assembled under his
roof: tapers were lit, long curious chants were raised,
interminable stories were told (for which one present was little
the wiser), and all sorts of social festivities served to while
away the time.

The young girls very often danced by moonlight in front of their
dwellings.  There are a great variety of these dances, in which,
however, I never saw the men take part.  They all consist of
active, romping, mischievous evolutions, in which every limb is
brought into requisition.  Indeed, the Marquesan girls dance all
over, as it were; not only do their feet dance, but their arms,
hands, fingers, ay, their very eyes, seem to dance in their
heads.

The damsels wear nothing but flowers and their compendious gala
tunics; and when they plume themselves for the dance, they look
like a band of olive-coloured Sylphides on the point of taking
wing.  In good sooth, they so sway their floating forms, arch
their necks, toss aloft their naked arms, and glide, and swim,
and whirl, that it was almost too much for a quiet, sober-minded,
modest young man like myself.

Unless some particular festivity was going forward, the inmates
of Marheyo's house retired to their mats rather early in the
evening; but not for the night, since, after slumbering lightly
for a while, they rose again, relit their tapers, partook of the
third and last meal of the day, at which poee-poee alone was
eaten, and then, after inhaling a narcotic whiff from a pipe of
tobacco, disposed themselves for the great business of night,
sleep.  With the Marquesans it might almost most be styled the
great business of life, for they pass a large portion of their
time in the arms of Somnus.  The native strength of their
constitution is no way shown more emphatically than in the
quantity of sleep they can endure.  To many of them, indeed, life
is little else than an often interrupted and luxurious nap.



CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THE SPRING OF ARVA WAI--REMARKABLE MONUMENTAL REMAINS--SOME IDEAS
WITH REGARD TO THE HISTORY OF THE PI-PIS FOUND IN THE VALLEY

ALMOST every country has its medicinal springs famed for their
healing virtues.  The Cheltenham of Typee is embosomed in the
deepest solitude, and but seldom receives a visitor.  It is
situated remote from any dwelling, a little way up the mountain,
near the head of the valley; and you approach it by a pathway
shaded by the most beautiful foliage, and adorned with a thousand
fragrant plants.  The mineral waters of Arva Wai* ooze forth from
the crevices of a rock, and gliding down its mossy side, fall at
last, in many clustering drops, into a natural basin of stone
fringed round with grass and dewy-looking little violet-coloured
flowers, as fresh and beautiful as the perpetual moisture they
enjoy can make them.

*I presume this might be translated into 'Strong Waters'.  Arva
is the name bestowed upon a root the properties of which are both
inebriating and medicinal.  'Wai' is the Marquesan word for
water.



The water is held in high estimation by the islanders, some of
whom consider it an agreeable as well as a medicinal beverage;
they bring it from the mountain in their calabashes, and store it
away beneath heaps of leaves in some shady nook near the house.  
Old Marheyo had a great love for the waters of the spring.  Every
now and then he lugged off to the mountain a great round demijohn
of a calabash, and, panting with his exertions, brought it back
filled with his darling fluid.

The water tasted like a solution of a dozen disagreeable things,
and was sufficiently nauseous to have made the fortune of the
proprietor, had the spa been situated in the midst of any
civilized community.

As I am no chemist, I cannot give a scientific analysis of the
water.  All I know about the matter is, that one day Marheyo in
my presence poured out the last drop from his huge calabash, and
I observed at the bottom of the vessel a small quantity of
gravelly sediment very much resembling our common sand.  Whether
this is always found in the water, and gives it its peculiar
flavour and virtues, or whether its presence was merely
incidental, I was not able to ascertain.

One day in returning from this spring by a circuitous path, I
came upon a scene which reminded me of Stonehenge and the
architectural labours of the Druids.

At the base of one of the mountains, and surrounded on all sides
by dense groves, a series of vast terraces of stone rises, step
by step, for a considerable distance up the hill side.  These
terraces cannot be less than one hundred yards in length and
twenty in width.  Their magnitude, however, is less striking than
the immense size of the blocks composing them.  Some of the
stones, of an oblong shape, are from ten to fifteen feet in
length, and five or six feet thick.  Their sides are quite
smooth, but though square, and of pretty regular formation, they
bear no mark of the chisel.  They are laid together without
cement, and here and there show gaps between.  The topmost
terrace and the lower one are somewhat peculiar in their
construction.  They have both a quadrangular depression in the
centre, leaving the rest of the terrace elevated several feet
above it.  In the intervals of the stones immense trees have
taken root, and their broad boughs stretching far over, and
interlacing together, support a canopy almost impenetrable to the
sun.  Overgrowing the greater part of them, and climbing from one
to another, is a wilderness of vines, in whose sinewy embrace
many of the stones lie half-hidden, while in some places a thick
growth of bushes entirely covers them.  There is a wild pathway
which obliquely crosses two of these terraces; and so profound is
the shade, so dense the vegetation, that a stranger to the place
might pass along it without being aware of their existence.

These structures bear every indication of a very high antiquity
and Kory-Kory, who was my authority in all matters of scientific
research, gave me to understand that they were coeval with the
creation of the world; that the great gods themselves were the
builders; and that they would endure until time shall be no more.

Kory-Kory's prompt explanation and his attributing the work to a
divine origin, at once convinced me that neither he nor the rest
of his country-men knew anything about them.

As I gazed upon this monument, doubtless the work of an extinct
and forgotten race, thus buried in the green nook of an island at
the ends of the earth, the existence of which was yesterday
unknown, a stronger feeling of awe came over me than if I had
stood musing at the mighty base of the Pyramid of Cheops.  There
are no inscriptions, no sculpture, no clue, by which to
conjecture its history; nothing but the dumb stones.  How many
generations of the majestic trees which overshadow them have
grown and flourished and decayed since first they were erected!

These remains naturally suggest many interesting reflections.  
They establish the great age of the island, an opinion which the
builders of theories concerning, the creation of the various
groups in the South Seas are not always inclined to admit.  For
my own part, I think it just as probable that human beings were
living in the valleys of the Marquesas three thousand years ago
as that they were inhabiting the land of Egypt.  The origin of
the island of Nukuheva cannot be imputed to the coral insect; for
indefatigable as that wonderful creature is, it would be hardly
muscular enough to pile rocks one upon the other more than three
thousand feet above the level of the sea.  That the land may have
been thrown up by a submarine volcano is as possible as anything
else.  No one can make an affidavit to the contrary, and
therefore I still say nothing against the supposition: indeed,
were geologists to assert that the whole continent of America had
in like manner been formed by the simultaneous explosion of a
train of Etnas laid under the water all the way from the North
Pole to the parallel of Cape Horn, I am the last man in the world
to contradict them.

I have already mentioned that the dwellings of the islanders were
almost invariably built upon massive stone foundations, which
they call pi-pis.  The dimensions of these, however, as well as
of the stones composing them, are comparatively small: but there
are other and larger erections of a similar description
comprising the 'morais', or burying grounds, and festival-places,
in nearly all the valleys of the island.  Some of these piles are
so extensive, and so great a degree of labour and skill must have
been requisite in constructing them, that I can scarcely believe
they were built by the ancestors of the present inhabitants.  If
indeed they were, the race has sadly deteriorated in their
knowledge of the mechanic arts.  To say nothing of their habitual
indolence, by what contrivance within the reach of so simple a
people could such enormous masses have been moved or fixed in
their places?  and how could they with their rude implements have
chiselled and hammered them into shape?

All of these larger pi-pis--like that of the Hoolah Hoolah ground
in the Typee valley--bore incontestible marks of great age; and I
am disposed to believe that their erection may be ascribed to the
same race of men who were the builders of the still more ancient
remains I have just described.

According to Kory-Kory's account, the pi-pi upon which stands the
Hoolah Hoolah ground was built a great many moons ago, under the
direction of Monoo, a great chief and warrior, and, as it would
appear, master-mason among the Typees.  It was erected for the
express purpose to which it is at present devoted, in the
incredibly short period of one sun; and was dedicated to the
immortal wooden idols by a grand festival, which lasted ten days
and nights.

Among the smaller pi-pis, upon which stand the dwelling-houses of
the natives, I never observed any which intimated a recent
erection.  There are in every part of the valley a great many of
these massive stone foundations which have no houses upon them.  
This is vastly convenient, for whenever an enterprising islander
chooses to emigrate a few hundred yards from the place where he
was born, all he has to do in order to establish himself in some
new locality, is to select one of.  the many unappropriated
pi-pis, and without further ceremony pitch his bamboo tent upon
it.



CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

PREPARATIONS FOR A GRAND FESTIVAL IN THE VALLEY--STRANGE DOINGS
IN THE TABOO GROVES--MONUMENT OF CALABASHES--GALA COSTUME OF THE
TYPEE DAMSELS--DEPARTURE FOR THE FESTIVAL

FROM the time that my lameness had decreased I had made a daily
practice of visiting Mehevi at the Ti, who invariably gave me a
most cordial reception.  I was always accompanied in these
excursions by Fayaway and the ever-present Kory- Kory.  The
former, as soon as we reached the vicinity of the Ti--which was
rigorously tabooed to the whole female sex--withdrew to a
neighbouring hut, as if her feminine delicacy 'restricted' her
from approaching a habitation which might be regarded as a sort
of Bachelor's Hall.

And in good truth it might well have been so considered.  
Although it was the permanent residence of several distinguished
chiefs, and of the noble Mehevi in particular, it was still at
certain seasons the favourite haunt of all the jolly, talkative,
and elderly savages of the vale, who resorted thither in the same
way that similar characters frequent a tavern in civilized
countries.  There they would remain hour after hour, chatting,
smoking, eating poee-poee, or busily engaged in sleeping for the
good of their constitutions.

This building appeared to be the head-quarters of the valley,
where all flying rumours concentrated; and to have seen it filled
with a crowd of the natives, all males, conversing in animated
clusters, while multitudes were continually coming and going, one
would have thought it a kind of savage Exchange, where the rise
and fall of Polynesian Stock was discussed.

Mehevi acted as supreme lord over the place, spending the greater
portion of his time there: and often when, at particular hours of
the day, it was deserted by nearly every one else except the
verd-antique looking centenarians, who were fixtures in the
building, the chief himself was sure to be found enjoying his
'otium cum dignitate'--upon the luxurious mats which covered the
floor.  Whenever I made my appearance he invariably rose, and
like a gentleman doing the honours of his mansion, invited me to
repose myself wherever I pleased, and calling out 'tamaree!'
(boy), a little fellow would appear, and then retiring for an
instant, return with some savoury mess, from which the chief
would press me to regale myself.  To tell the truth, Mehevi was
indebted to the excellence of his viands for the honour of my
repeated visits--a matter which cannot appear singular, when it
is borne in mind that bachelors, all the world over, are famous
for serving up unexceptionable repasts.

One day, on drawing near to the Ti, I observed that extensive
preparations were going forward, plainly betokening some
approaching festival.  Some of the symptoms reminded me of the
stir produced among the scullions of a large hotel, where a grand
jubilee dinner is about to be given.  The natives were hurrying
about hither and thither, engaged in various duties, some lugging
off to the stream enormous hollow bamboos, for the purpose of
filling them with water; others chasing furious-looking hogs
through the bushes, in their endeavours to capture them; and
numbers employed in kneading great mountains of poee-poee heaped
up in huge wooden vessels.

After observing these lively indications for a while, I was
attracted to a neighbouring grove by a prodigious squeaking which
I heard there.  On reaching the spot I found it proceeded from a
large hog which a number of natives were forcibly holding to the
earth, while a muscular fellow, armed with a bludgeon, was
ineffectually aiming murderous blows at the skull of the
unfortunate porker.  Again and again he missed his writhing and
struggling victim, but though puffing and panting with his
exertions, he still continued them; and after striking a
sufficient number of blows to have demolished an entire drove of
oxen, with one crashing stroke he laid him dead at his feet.

Without letting any blood from the body, it was immediately
carried to a fire which had been kindled near at hand and four
savages taking hold of the carcass by its legs, passed it rapidly
to and fro in the flames.  In a moment the smell of burning
bristles betrayed the object of this procedure.  Having got thus
far in the matter, the body was removed to a little distance and,
being disembowelled, the entrails were laid aside as choice
parts, and the whole carcass thoroughly washed with water.  An
ample thick green cloth, composed of the long thick leaves of a
species of palm-tree, ingeniously tacked together with little
pins of bamboo, was now spread upon the ground, in which the body
being carefully rolled, it was borne to an oven previously
prepared to receive it.  Here it was at once laid upon the heated
stones at the bottom, and covered with thick layers of leaves,
the whole being quickly hidden from sight by a mound of earth
raised over it.

Such is the summary style in which the Typees convert
perverse-minded and rebellious hogs into the most docile and
amiable pork; a morsel of which placed on the tongue melts like a
soft smile from the lips of Beauty.

I commend then peculiar mode of proceeding to the consideration
of all butchers, cooks, and housewives.  The hapless porker whose
fate I have just rehearsed, was not the only one who suffered in
that memorable day.  Many a dismal grunt, many an imploring
squeak, proclaimed what was going on throughout the whole extent
of the valley; and I verily believe the first-born of every
litter perished before the setting of that fatal sun.

The scene around the Ti was now most animated.  Hogs and
poee-poee were baking in numerous ovens, which, heaped up with
fresh earth into slight elevations, looked like so many
ant-hills.  Scores of the savages were vigorously plying their
stone pestles in preparing masses of poee-poee, and numbers were
gathering green bread-fruit and young cocoanuts in the
surrounding groves; when an exceeding great multitude, with a
view of encouraging the rest in their labours, stood still, and
kept shouting most lustily without intermission.

It is a peculiarity among these people, that, when engaged in an
employment, they always make a prodigious fuss about it.  So
seldom do they ever exert themselves, that when they do work they
seem determined that so meritorious an action shall not escape
the observation of those around if, for example, they have
occasion to remove a stone to a little distance, which perhaps
might be carried by two able-bodied men, a whole swarm gather
about it, and, after a vast deal of palavering, lift it up among
them, every one struggling to get hold of it, and bear it off
yelling and panting as if accomplishing some mighty achievement.  
Seeing them on these occasions, one is reminded of an infinity of
black ants clustering about and dragging away to some hole the
leg of a deceased fly.

Having for some time attentively observed these demonstrations of
good cheer, I entered the Ti, where Mehevi sat complacently
looking out upon the busy scene, and occasionally issuing his
orders.  The chief appeared to be in an extraordinary flow of
spirits and gave me to understand that on the morrow there would
be grand doings in the Groves generally, and at the Ti in
particular; and urged me by no means to absent myself.  In
commemoration of what event, however, or in honour of what
distinguished personage, the feast was to be given, altogether
passed my comprehension.  Mehevi sought to enlighten my
ignorance, but he failed as signally as when he had endeavoured
to initiate me into the perplexing arcana of the taboo.

On leaving the Ti, Kory-Kory, who had as a matter of course
accompanied me, observing that my curiosity remained unabated,
resolved to make everything plain and satisfactory.  With this
intent, he escorted me through the Taboo Groves, pointing out to
my notice a variety of objects, and endeavoured to explain them
in such an indescribable jargon of words, that it almost put me
in bodily pain to listen to him.  In particular, he led me to a
remarkable pyramidical structure some three yards square at the
base, and perhaps ten feet in height, which had lately been
thrown up, and occupied a very conspicuous position.  It was
composed principally of large empty calabashes, with a few
polished cocoanut shells, and looked not unlike a cenotaph of
skulls.  My cicerone perceived the astonishment with which I
gazed at this monument of savage crockery, and immediately
addressed himself in the task of enlightening me: but all in
vain; and to this hour the nature of the monument remains a
complete mystery to me.  As, however, it formed so prominent a
feature in the approaching revels, I bestowed upon the latter, in
my own mind, the title of the 'Feast of Calabashes'.

The following morning, awaking rather late, I perceived the whole
of Marheyo's family busily engaged in preparing for the festival.

The old warrior himself was arranging in round balls the two grey
locks of hair that were suffered to grow from the crown of his
head; his earrings and spear, both well polished, lay beside him,
while the highly decorative pair of shoes hung suspended from a
projecting cane against the side of the house.  The young men
were similarly employed; and the fair damsels, including Fayaway,
were anointing themselves with 'aka', arranging their long
tresses, and performing other matters connected with the duties
of the toilet.

Having completed their preparations, the girls now exhibited
themselves in gala costume; the most conspicuous feature of which
was a necklace of beautiful white flowers, with the stems
removed, and strung closely together upon a single fibre of
tappa.  Corresponding ornaments were inserted in their ears, and
woven garlands upon their heads.  About their waist they wore a
short tunic of spotless white tappa, and some of them super-added
to this a mantle of the same material, tied in an elaborate bow
upon the left shoulder, and falling about the figure in
picturesque folds.

Thus arrayed, I would have matched the charming Fayaway against
any beauty in the world.

People may say what they will about the taste evinced by our
fashionable ladies in dress.  Their jewels, their feathers, their
silks, and their furbelows, would have sunk into utter
insignificance beside the exquisite simplicity of attire adopted
by the nymphs of the vale on this festive occasion.  I should
like to have seen a gallery of coronation beauties, at
Westminster Abbey, confronted for a moment by this band of island
girls; their stiffness, formality, and affectation, contrasted
with the artless vivacity and unconcealed natural graces of these
savage maidens.  It would be the Venus de' Medici placed beside a
milliner's doll.  It was not long before Kory-Kory and myself
were left alone in the house, the rest of its inmates having
departed for the Taboo Groves.  My valet was all impatience to
follow them; and was as fidgety about my dilatory movements as a
diner out waiting hat in hand at the bottom of the stairs for
some lagging companion.  At last, yielding to his importunities,
I set out for the Ti.  As we passed the houses peeping out from
the groves through which our route lay, I noticed that they were
entirely deserted by their inhabitants.

When we reached the rock that abruptly terminated the path, and
concealed from us the festive scene, wild shouts and a confused
blending of voices assured me that the occasion, whatever it
might be, had drawn together a great multitude.  Kory-Kory,
previous to mounting the elevation, paused for a moment, like a
dandy at a ball-room door, to put a hasty finish to his toilet.  
During this short interval, the thought struck me that I ought
myself perhaps to be taking some little pains with my appearance.

But as I had no holiday raiment, I was not a little puzzled to
devise some means of decorating myself.  However, as I felt
desirous to create a sensation, I determined to do all that lay
in my power; and knowing that I could not delight the savages
more than by conforming to their style of dress, I removed from
my person the large robe of tappa which I was accustomed to wear
over my shoulders whenever I sallied into the open air, and
remained merely girt about with a short tunic descending from my
waist to my knees.

My quick-witted attendant fully appreciated the compliment I was
paying to the costume of his race, and began more sedulously to
arrange the folds of the one only garment which remained to me.
Whilst he was doing this,I caught sight of a knot of young
lasses, who were sitting near us on the grass surrounded by heaps
of flowers which they were forming into garlands.  I motioned to
them to bring some of their handywork to me; and in an instant a
dozen wreaths were at my disposal.  One of them I put round the
apology for a hat which I had been forced to construct for myself
out of palmetto-leaves, and some of the others I converted into a
splendid girdle.  These operations finished, with the slow and
dignified step of a full-dressed beau I ascended the rock.  



CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THE FEAST OF CALABASHES

THE whole population of the valley seemed to be gathered within
the precincts of the grove.  In the distance could be seen the
long front of the Ti, its immense piazza swarming with men,
arrayed in every variety of fantastic costume, and all
vociferating with animated gestures; while the whole interval
between it and the place where I stood was enlivened by groups of
females fancifully decorated, dancing, capering, and uttering
wild exclamations.  As soon as they descried me they set up a
shout of welcome; and a band of them came dancing towards me,
chanting as they approached some wild recitative.  The change in
my garb seemed to transport them with delight, and clustering
about me on all sides, they accompanied me towards the Ti.  When
however we drew near it these joyous nymphs paused in their
career, and parting on either side, permitted me to pass on to
the now densely thronged building.

So soon as I mounted to the pi-pi I saw at a glance that the
revels were fairly under way.

What lavish plenty reigned around?--Warwick feasting his
retainers with beef and ale, was a niggard to the noble
Mehevi!--All along the piazza of the Ti were arranged elaborately
carved canoe-shaped vessels, some twenty feet in length, tied
with newly made poee-poee, and sheltered from the sun by the
broad leaves of the banana.  At intervals were heaps of green
bread-fruit, raised in pyramidical stacks, resembling the regular
piles of heavy shot to be seen in the yard of an arsenal.  
Inserted into the interstices of the huge stones which formed the
pi-pi were large boughs of trees; hanging from the branches of
which, and screened from the sun by their foliage, were
innumerable little packages with leafy coverings, containing the
meat of the numerous hogs which had been slain, done up in this
manner to make it more accessible to the crowd.  Leaning against
the railing on the piazza were an immense number of long, heavy
bamboos, plugged at the lower end, and with their projecting
muzzles stuffed with a wad of leaves.  These were filled with
water from the stream, and each of them might hold from four to
five gallons.

The banquet being thus spread, naught remained but for everyone
to help himself at his pleasure.  Accordingly not a moment passed
but the transplanted boughs I have mentioned were rifled by the
throng of the fruit they certainly had never borne before.  
Calabashes of poee-poee were continually being replenished from
the extensive receptacle in which that article was stored, and
multitudes of little fires were kindled about the Ti for the
purpose of roasting the bread-fruit.

Within the building itself was presented a most extraordinary
scene.  The immense lounge of mats lying between the parallel
rows of the trunks of cocoanut trees, and extending the entire
length of the house, at least two hundred feet, was covered by
the reclining forms of a host of chiefs and warriors who were
eating at a great rate, or soothing the cares of Polynesian life
in the sedative fumes of tobacco.  The smoke was inhaled from
large pipes, the bowls of which, made out of small cocoanut
shells, were curiously carved in strange heathenish devices. 
These were passed from mouth to mouth by the recumbent smokers,
each of whom, taking two or three prodigious whiffs, handed the
pipe to his neighbour; sometimes for that purpose stretching
indolently across the body of some dozing individual whose
exertions at the dinner-table had already induced sleep.

The tobacco used among the Typees was of a very mild and pleasing
flavour, and as I always saw it in leaves, and the natives
appeared pretty well supplied with it, I was led to believe that
it must have been the growth of the valley.  Indeed Kory-Kory
gave me to understand that this was the case; but I never saw a
single plant growing on the island.  At Nukuheva, and, I believe,
in all the other valleys, the weed is very scarce, being only
obtained in small quantities from foreigners, and smoking is
consequently with the inhabitants of these places a very great
luxury.  How it was that the Typees were so well furnished with
it I cannot divine.  I should think them too indolent to devote
any attention to its culture; and, indeed, as far as my
observation extended, not a single atom of the soil was under any
other cultivation than that of shower and sunshine.  The
tobacco-plant, however, like the sugar-cane, may grow wild in
some remote part of the vale.

There were many in the Ti for whom the tobacco did not furnish a
sufficient stimulus, and who accordingly had recourse to 'arva',
as a more powerful agent in producing the desired effect.

'Arva' is a root very generally dispersed over the South Seas,
and from it is extracted a juice, the effects of which upon the
system are at first stimulating in a moderate degree; but it soon
relaxes the muscles, and exerting a narcotic influence produces a
luxurious sleep.  In the valley this beverage was universally
prepared in the following way:--Some half-dozen young boys seated
themselves in a circle around an empty wooden vessel, each one of
them being supplied with a certain quantity of the roots of the
'arva', broken into small bits and laid by his side.  A cocoanut
goblet of water was passed around the juvenile company, who
rinsing their mouths with its contents, proceeded to the business
before them.  This merely consisted in thoroughly masticating the
'arva', and throwing it mouthful after mouthful into the
receptacle provided.  When a sufficient quantity had been thus
obtained water was poured upon the mass, and being stirred about
with the forefinger of the right hand, the preparation was soon
in readiness for use.  The 'arva' has medicinal qualities.

Upon the Sandwich Islands it has been employed with no small
success in the treatment of scrofulous affections, and in
combating the ravages of a disease for whose frightful inroads
the ill-starred inhabitants of that group are indebted to their
foreign benefactors.  But the tenants of the Typee valley, as yet
exempt from these inflictions, generally employ the 'arva' as a
minister to social enjoyment, and a calabash of the liquid
circulates among them as the bottle with us.

Mehevi, who was greatly delighted with the change in my costume,
gave me a cordial welcome.  He had reserved for me a most
delectable mess of 'cokoo', well knowing my partiality for that
dish; and had likewise selected three or four young cocoanuts,
several roasted bread-fruit, and a magnificent bunch of bananas,
for my especial comfort and gratification.  These various matters
were at once placed before me; but Kory-Kory deemed the banquet
entirely insufficient for my wants until he had supplied me with
one of the leafy packages of pork, which, notwithstanding the
somewhat hasty manner in which it had been prepared, possessed a
most excellent flavour, and was surprisingly sweet and tender.

Pork is not a staple article of food among the people of the
Marquesas; consequently they pay little attention to the BREEDING
of the swine.  The hogs are permitted to roam at large on the
groves, where they obtain no small part of their nourishment from
the cocoanuts which continually fall from the trees.  But it is
only after infinite labour and difficulty, that the hungry animal
can pierce the husk and shell so as to get at the meat.  I have
frequently been amused at seeing one of them, after crunching the
obstinate nut with his teeth for a long time unsuccessfully, get
into a violent passion with it.  He would then root furiously
under the cocoanut, and, with a fling of his snout, toss it
before him on the ground.  Following it up, he would crunch at it
again savagely for a moment, and then next knock it on one side,
pausing immediately after, as if wondering how it could so
suddenly have disappeared.  In this way the persecuted cocoanuts
were often chased half across the valley.

The second day of the Feast of Calabashes was ushered in by still
more uproarious noises than the first.  The skins of innumerable
sheep seemed to be resounding to the blows of an army of
drummers.  Startled from my slumbers by the din, I leaped up, and
found the whole household engaged in making preparations for
immediate departure.  Curious to discover of what strange events
these novel sounds might be the precursors, and not a little
desirous to catch a sight of the instruments which produced the
terrific noise, I accompanied the natives as soon as they were in
readiness to depart for the Taboo Groves.

The comparatively open space that extended from the Ti toward the
rock, to which I have before alluded as forming the ascent to the
place, was, with the building itself, now altogether deserted by
the men; the whole distance being filled by bands of females,
shouting and dancing under the influence of some strange
excitement.

I was amused at the appearance of four or five old women who, in
a state of utter nudity, with their arms extended flatly down
their sides, and holding themselves perfectly erect, were leaping
stiffly into the air, like so many sticks bobbing to the surface,
after being pressed perpendicularly into the water.  They
preserved the utmost gravity of countenance, and continued their
extraordinary movements without a single moment's cessation.  
They did not appear to attract the observation of the crowd
around them, but I must candidly confess that for my, own part, I
stared at them most pertinaciously.

Desirous of being enlightened in regard to the meaning of this
peculiar diversion, I turned, inquiringly to Kory-Kory; that
learned Typee immediately proceeded to explain the whole matter
thoroughly.  But all that I could comprehend from what he said
was, that the leaping figures before me were bereaved widows,
whose partners had been slain in battle many moons previously;
and who, at every festival, gave public evidence in this manner
of their calamities.  It was evident that Kory-Kory considered
this an all-sufficient reason for so indecorous a custom; but I
must say that it did not satisfy me as to its propriety.

Leaving these afflicted females, we passed on to the Hoolah
Hoolah ground.  Within the spacious quadrangle, the whole
population of the valley seemed to be assembled, and the sight
presented was truly remarkable.  Beneath the sheds of bamboo
which opened towards the interior of the square reclined the
principal chiefs and warriors, while a miscellaneous throng lay
at their ease under the enormous trees which spread a majestic
canopy overhead.  Upon the terraces of the gigantic altars, at
each end, were deposited green bread-fruit in baskets of cocoanut
leaves, large rolls of tappa, bunches of ripe bananas, clusters
of mammee-apples, the golden-hued fruit of the artu-tree, and
baked hogs, laid out in large wooden trenchers, fancifully
decorated with freshly plucked leaves, whilst a variety of rude
implements of war were piled in confused heaps before the ranks
of hideous idols.  Fruits of various; kinds were likewise
suspended in leafen baskets, from the tops of poles planted
uprightly, and at regular intervals, along the lower terraces of
both altars.  At their base were arranged two parallel rows of
cumbersome drums, standing at least fifteen feet in height, and
formed from the hollow trunks of large trees.  Their heads were
covered with shark skins, and their barrels were elaborately
carved with various quaint figures and devices.  At regular
intervals they were bound round by a species of sinnate of
various colours, and strips of native cloth flattened upon them
here and there.  Behind these instruments were built slight
platforms, upon which stood a number of young men who, beating
violently with the palms of their hands upon the drum-heads,
produced those outrageous sounds which had awakened me in the
morning.  Every few minutes these musical performers hopped down
from their elevation into the crowd below, and their places were
immediately supplied by fresh recruits.  Thus an incessant din
was kept up that might have startled Pandemonium.

Precisely in the middle of the quadrangle were placed
perpendicularly in the ground, a hundred or more slender,
fresh-cut poles, stripped of their bark, and decorated at the end
with a floating pennon of white tappa; the whole being fenced
about with a little picket of canes.  For what purpose these
angular ornaments were intended I in vain endeavoured to
discover.

Another most striking feature of the performance was exhibited by
a score of old men, who sat cross-legged in the little pulpits,
which encircled the trunks of the immense trees growing in the
middle of the enclosure.  These venerable gentlemen, who I
presume were the priests, kept up an uninterrupted monotonous
chant, which was partly drowned in the roar of drums.  In the
right hand they held a finely woven grass fan, with a heavy black
wooden handle curiously chased: these fans they kept in continual
motion.

But no attention whatever seemed to be paid to the drummers or to
the old priests; the individuals who composed the vast crowd
present being entirely taken up in chanting and laughing with one
another, smoking, drinking 'arva', and eating.  For all the
observation it attracted, or the good it achieved, the whole
savage orchestra might with great advantage to its own members
and the company in general, have ceased the prodigious uproar
they were making.

In vain I questioned Kory-Kory and others of the natives, as to
the meaning of the strange things that were going on; all their
explanations were conveyed in such a mass of outlandish gibberish
and gesticulation that I gave up the attempt in despair.  All
that day the drums resounded, the priests chanted, and the
multitude feasted and roared till sunset, when the throng
dispersed, and the Taboo Groves were again abandoned to quiet and
repose.  The next day the same scene was repeated until night,
when this singular festival terminated.



CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

IDEAS SUGGESTED BY THE FEAST OF CALABASHES--INACCURACY OF CERTAIN
PUBLISHED ACCOUNTS OF THE ISLANDS--A REASON--NEGLECTED STATE OF
HEATHENISM IN THE VALLEY--EFFIGY OF A DEAD WARRIOR--A SINGULAR
SUPERSTITION--THE PRIEST KOLORY AND THE GOD MOA ARTUA--AMAZING
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE--A DILAPIDATED SHRINE--KORY-KORY AND THE
IDOL--AN INFERENCE

ALTHOUGH I had been baffled in my attempts to learn the origin of
the Feast of Calabashes, yet it seemed very plain to me that it
was principally, if not wholly, of a religious character.  As a
religious solemnity, however, it had not at all corresponded with
the horrible descriptions of Polynesian worship which we have
received in some published narratives, and especially in those
accounts of the evangelized islands with which the missionaries
have favoured us.  Did not the sacred character of these persons
render the purity of their intentions unquestionable, I should
certainly be led to suppose that they had exaggerated the evils
of Paganism, in order to enhance the merit of their own
disinterested labours.

In a certain work incidentally treating of the 'Washington, or
Northern Marquesas Islands,' I have seen the frequent immolation
of human victims upon the altars of their gods, positively and
repeatedly charged upon the inhabitants.  The same work gives
also a rather minute account of their religion--enumerates a
great many of their superstitions--and makes known the particular
designations of numerous orders of the priesthood.  One would
almost imagine from the long list that is given of cannibal
primates, bishops, arch-deacons, prebendaries, and other inferior
ecclesiastics, that the sacerdotal order far outnumbered the rest
of the population, and that the poor natives were more severely
priest-ridden than even the inhabitants of the papal states.  
These accounts are likewise calculated to leave upon the reader's
mind an impression that human victims are daily cooked and served
up upon the altars; that heathenish cruelties of every
description are continually practised; and that these ignorant
Pagans are in a state of the extremest wretchedness in
consequence of the grossness of their superstitions.  Be it
observed, however, that all this information is given by a man
who, according to his own statement, was only at one of the
islands, and remained there but two weeks, sleeping every night
on board his ship, and taking little kid-glove excursions ashore
in the daytime, attended by an armed party.

Now, all I can say is, that in all my excursions through the
valley of Typee, I never saw any of these alleged enormities.  If
any of them are practised upon the Marquesas Islands they must
certainly have come to my knowledge while living for months with
a tribe of savages, wholly unchanged from their original
primitive condition, and reputed the most ferocious in the South
Seas.

The fact is, that there is a vast deal of unintentional
humbuggery in some of the accounts we have from scientific men
concerning the religious institutions of Polynesia.  These
learned tourists generally obtain the greater part of their
information from retired old South-Sea rovers, who have
domesticated themselves among the barbarous tribes of the
Pacific.  Jack, who has long been accustomed to the long-bow, and
to spin tough yarns on the ship's forecastle, invariably
officiates as showman of the island on which he has settled, and
having mastered a few dozen words of the language, is supposed to
know all about the people who speak it.  A natural desire to make
himself of consequence in the eyes of the strangers, prompts him
to lay claim to a much greater knowledge of such matters than he
actually possesses.  In reply to incessant queries, he
communicates not only all he knows but a good deal more, and if
there be any information deficient still he is at no loss to
supply it.  The avidity with which his anecdotes are noted down
tickles his vanity, and his powers of invention increase with the
credulity auditors.  He knows just the sort of information
wanted, and furnishes it to any extent.

This is not a supposed case; I have met with several individuals
like the one described, and I have been present at two or three
of their interviews with strangers.

Now, when the scientific voyager arrives at home with his
collection of wonders, he attempts, perhaps, to give a
description of some of,the strange people he has been visiting.  
Instead of representing them as a community of lusty savages, who
are leading a merry, idle, innocent life, he enters into a very
circumstantial and learned narrative of certain unaccountable
superstitions and practices, about which he knows as little as
the islanders themselves.  Having had little time, and scarcely
any opportunity, to become acquainted with the customs he
pretends to describe, he writes them down one after another in an
off-hand, haphazard style; and were the book thus produced to be
translated into the tongue of the people of whom it purports to
give the history, it would appear quite as wonderful to them as
it does to the American public, and much more improbable.

For my own part, I am free to confess my almost entire inability
to gratify any curiosity that may be felt with regard to the
theology of the valley.  I doubt whether the inhabitants
themselves could do so.  They are either too lazy or too sensible
to worry themselves about abstract points of religious belief.  
While I was among them, they never held any synods or councils to
settle the principles of their faith by agitating them.  An
unbounded liberty of conscience seemed to prevail.  Those who
pleased to do so were allowed to repose implicit faith in an
ill-favoured god with a large bottle-nose and fat shapeless arms
crossed upon his breast; whilst others worshipped an image which,
having no likeness either in heaven or on earth, could hardly be
called an idol.  As the islanders always maintained a discreet
reserve with regard to my own peculiar views on religion, I
thought it would be excessively ill-bred of me to pry into
theirs.

But, although my knowledge of the religious faith of the Typees
was unavoidably limited, one of their superstitious observances
with which I became acquainted interested me greatly.

In one of the most secluded portions of the valley within a
stone's cast of Fayaway's lake--for so I christened the scene of
our island yachting--and hard by a growth of palms, which stood
ranged in order along both banks of the stream, waving their
green arms as if to do honour to its passage, was the mausoleum
of a deceased, warrior chief.  Like all the other edifices of any
note, it was raised upon a small pi-pi of stones, which, being of
unusual height, was a conspicuous object from a distance.  A
light thatching of bleached palmetto-leaves hung over it like a
self supported canopy; for it was not until you came very near
that you saw it was supported by four slender columns of bamboo
rising at each corner to a little more than the height of a man.  
A clear area of a few yards surrounded the pi-pi, and was
enclosed by four trunks of cocoanut trees resting at the angles
on massive blocks of stone.  The place was sacred.  The sign of
the inscrutable Taboo was seen in the shape of a mystic roll of
white tappa, suspended by a twisted cord of the same material
from the top of a slight pole planted within the enclosure*.  The
sanctity of the spot appeared never to have been violated.  The
stillness of the grave was there, and the calm solitude around
was beautiful and touching.  The soft shadows of those lofty
palm-trees!--I can see them now--hanging over the little temple,
as if to keep out the intrusive sun.

*White appears to be the sacred colour among the Marquesans.

On all sides as you approached this silent spot you caught sight
of the dead chief's effigy, seated in the stern of a canoe, which
was raised on a light frame a few inches above the level of the
pi-pi.  The canoe was about seven feet in length; of a rich, dark
coloured wood, handsomely carved and adorned in many places with
variegated bindings of stained sinnate, into which were
ingeniously wrought a number of sparkling seashells, and a belt
of the same shells ran all round it.  The body of the figure--of
whatever material it might have been made--was effectually
concealed in a heavy robe of brown tappa, revealing; only the
hands and head; the latter skilfully carved in wood, and
surmounted by a superb arch of plumes.  These plumes, in the
subdued and gentle gales which found access to this sequestered
spot, were never for one moment at rest, but kept nodding and
waving over the chief's brow.  The long leaves of the palmetto
drooped over the eaves, and through them you saw the warrior
holding his paddle with both hands in the act of rowing, leaning
forward and inclining his head, as if eager to hurry on his
voyage.  Glaring at him forever, and face to face, was a polished
human skull, which crowned the prow of the canoe.  The spectral
figurehead, reversed in its position, glancing backwards, seemed
to mock the impatient attitude of the warrior.

When I first visited this singular place with Kory-Kory, he told
me--or at least I so understood him--that the chief was paddling
his way to the realms of bliss, and bread-fruit--the Polynesian
heaven--where every moment the bread-fruit trees dropped their
ripened spheres to the ground, and where there was no end to the
cocoanuts and bananas: there they reposed through the livelong
eternity upon mats much finer than those of Typee; and every day
bathed their glowing limbs in rivers of cocoanut oil.  In that
happy land there were plenty of plumes and feathers, and
boars'-tusks and sperm-whale teeth, far preferable to all the
shining trinkets and gay tappa of the white men; and, best of
all, women far lovelier than the daughters of earth were there in
abundance.  'A very pleasant place,' Kory-Kory said it was; 'but
after all, not much pleasanter, he thought, than Typee.'  'Did he
not then,' I asked him, 'wish to accompany the warrior?'  'Oh no:
he was very happy where he was; but supposed that some time or
other he would go in his own canoe.'

Thus far, I think, I clearly comprehended Kory-Kory.  But there
was a singular expression he made use of at the time, enforced by
as singular a gesture, the meaning of which I would have given
much to penetrate.  I am inclined to believe it must have been a
proverb he uttered; for I afterwards heard him repeat the same
words several times, and in what appeared to me to be a somewhat:
similar sense.  Indeed, Kory-Kory had a great variety of short,
smart-sounding sentences, with which he frequently enlivened his
discourse; and he introduced them with an air which plainly
intimated, that in his opinion, they settled the matter in
question, whatever it might be.

Could it have been then, that when I asked him whether he desired
to go to this heaven of bread-fruit, cocoanuts, and young ladies,
which he had been describing, he answered by saying something
equivalent to our old adage--'A bird in the hand is worth two in
the bush'?--if he did, Kory-Kory was a discreet and sensible
fellow, and I cannot sufficiently admire his shrewdness.

Whenever, in the course of my rambles through the valley I
happened to be near the chief's mausoleum, I always turned aside
to visit it.  The place had a peculiar charm for me; I hardly
know why, but so it was.  As I leaned over the railing and gazed
upon the strange effigy and watched the play of the feathery
head-dress, stirred by the same breeze which in low tones
breathed amidst the lofty palm-trees, I loved to yield myself up
to the fanciful superstition of the islanders, and could almost
believe that the grim warrior was bound heavenward.  In this mood
when I turned to depart, I bade him 'God speed, and a pleasant
voyage.'  Aye, paddle away, brave chieftain, to the land of
spirits!  To the material eye thou makest but little progress;
but with the eye of faith, I see thy canoe cleaving the bright
waves, which die away on those dimly looming shores of Paradise.

This strange superstition affords another evidence of the fact,
that however ignorant man may be, he still feels within him his
immortal spirit yearning, after the unknown future.

Although the religious theories of the islands were a complete
mystery to me, their practical every-day operation could not be
concealed.  I frequently passed the little temples reposing in
the shadows of the taboo groves and beheld the offerings--mouldy
fruit spread out upon a rude altar, or hanging in half-decayed
baskets around some uncouth jolly-looking image; I was present
during the continuance of the festival; I daily beheld the
grinning idols marshalled rank and file in the Hoolah Hoolah
ground, and was often in the habit of meeting those whom I
supposed to be the priests.  But the temples seemed to be
abandoned to solitude; the festival had been nothing more than a
jovial mingling of the tribe; the idols were quite harmless as
any other logs of wood; and the priests were the mightiest dogs
in the valley.

In fact religious affairs in Typee were at a very low ebb: all
such matters sat very lightly upon the thoughtless inhabitants;
and, in the celebration of many of their strange rites, they
appeared merely to seek a sort of childish amusement.

A curious evidence of this was given in a remarkable ceremony in
which I frequently saw Mehevi and several other chefs and
warriors of note take part; but never a single female.

Among those whom I looked upon as forming the priesthood of the
valley, there was one in particular who often attracted my
notice, and whom I could not help regarding as the head of the
order.  He was a noble looking man, in the prime of his life, and
of a most benignant aspect.  The authority this man, whose name
was Kolory, seemed to exercise over the rest, the episcopal part
he took in the Feast of Calabashes, his sleek and complacent
appearance, the mystic characters which were tattooed upon his
chest, and above all the mitre he frequently wore, in the shape
of a towering head-dress, consisting of part of a cocoanut
branch, the stalk planted uprightly on his brow, and the leaflets
gathered together and passed round the temples and behind the
ears, all these pointed him out as Lord Primate of Typee.  Kolory
was a sort of Knight Templar--a soldier-priest; for he often wore
the dress of a Marquesan warrior, and always carried a long
spear, which, instead of terminating in a paddle at the lower
end, after the general fashion of these weapons, was curved into
a heathenish-looking little image.  This instrument, however,
might perhaps have been emblematic of his double functions.  With
one end in carnal combat he transfixed the enemies of his tribe;
and with the other as a pastoral crook he kept in order his
spiritual flock.  But this is not all I have to say about Kolory.

His martial grace very often carried about with him what seemed
to me the half of a broken war-club.  It was swathed round with
ragged bits of white tappa, and the upper part, which was
intended to represent a human head, was embellished with a strip
of scarlet cloth of European manufacture.  It required little
observation to discover that this strange object was revered as a
god.  By the side of the big and lusty images standing sentinel
over the altars of the Hoolah Hoolah ground, it seemed a mere
pigmy in tatters.  But appearances all the world over are
deceptive.  Little men are sometimes very potent, and rags
sometimes cover very extensive pretensions.  In fact, this funny
little image was the 'crack' god of the island; lording it over
all the wooden lubbers who looked so grim and dreadful; its name
was Moa Artua*.  And it was in honour of Moa Artua, and for the
entertainment of those who believe in him, that the curious
ceremony I am about to describe was observed.

*The word 'Artua', although having some other significations, is
in nearly all the Polynesian dialects used as the general
designation of the gods.



Mehevi and the chieftains of the Ti have just risen from their
noontide slumbers.  There are no affairs of state to dispose of;
and having eaten two or three breakfasts in the course of the
morning, the magnates of the valley feel no appetite as yet for
dinner.  How are their leisure moments to be occupied?  They
smoke, they chat, and at last one of their number makes a
proposition to the rest, who joyfully acquiescing, he darts out
of the house, leaps from the pi-pi, and disappears in the grove.  
Soon you see him returning with Kolory, who bears the god Moa
Artua in his arms, and carries in one hand a small trough,
hollowed out in the likeness of a canoe.  The priest comes along
dandling his charge as if it were a lachrymose infant he was
endeavouring to put into a good humour.  Presently entering the
Ti, he seats himself on the mats as composedly as a juggler about
to perform his sleight-of-hand tricks; and with the chiefs
disposed in a circle around him, commences his ceremony.  In
the,first place he gives Moa Artua an affectionate hug, then
caressingly lays him to his breast, and, finally, whispers
something in his ear; the rest of the company listening eagerly
for a reply.  But the baby-god is deaf or dumb,--perhaps both,
for never a word does, he utter.  At last Kolory speaks a little
louder, and soon growing angry, comes boldly out with what he has
to say and bawls to him.  He put me in mind of a choleric fellow,
who, after trying in vain to communicated a secret to a deaf man,
all at once flies into a passion and screams it out so that every
one may hear.  Still Moa Artua remains as quiet as ever; and
Kolory, seemingly losing his temper, fetches him a box over the
head, strips him of his tappa and red cloth, and laying him in a
state of nudity in a little trough, covers him from sight.  At
this proceeding all present loudly applaud and signify their
approval by uttering the adjective 'motarkee' with violent
emphasis.  Kolory however, is so desirous his conduct should meet
with unqualified approbation, that he inquires of each individual
separately whether under existing circumstances he has not done
perfectly right in shutting up Moa Artua.  The invariable
response is 'Aa, Aa' (yes, yes), repeated over again and again in
a manner which ought to quiet the scruples of the most
conscientious.  After a few moments Kolory brings forth his doll
again, and while arraying it very carefully in the tappa and red
cloth, alternately fondles and chides it.  The toilet being
completed, he once more speaks to it aloud.  The whole company
hereupon show the greatest interest; while the priest holding Moa
Artua to his ear interprets to them what he pretends the god is
confidentially communicating to him.  Some items intelligence
appear to tickle all present amazingly; for one claps his hands
in a rapture; another shouts with merriment; and a third leaps to
his feet and capers about like a madman.

What under the sun Moa Artua on these occasions had to say to
Kolory I never could find out; but I could not help thinking that
the former showed a sad want of spirit in being disciplined into
making those disclosures, which at first he seemed bent on
withholding.  Whether the priest honestly interpreted what he
believed the divinity said to him, or whether he was not all the
while guilty of a vile humbug, I shall not presume to decide.  At
any rate, whatever as coming from the god was imparted to those
present seemed to be generally of a complimentary nature: a fact
which illustrates the sagacity of Kolory, or else the timeserving
disposition of this hardly used deity.

Moa Artua having nothing more to say, his bearer goes to nursing
him again, in which occupation, however, he is soon interrupted
by a question put by one of the warriors to the god.  Kolory
hereupon snatches it up to his ear again, and after listening
attentively, once more officiates as the organ of communication.  
A multitude of questions and answers having passed between the
parties, much to the satisfaction of those who propose them, the
god is put tenderly to bed in the trough, and the whole company
unite in a long chant, led off by Kolory.  This ended, the
ceremony is over; the chiefs rise to their feet in high good
humour, and my Lord Archbishop, after chatting awhile, and
regaling himself with a whiff or two from a pipe of tobacco,
tucks the canoe under his arm and marches off with it.

The whole of these proceedings were like those of a parcel of
children playing with dolls and baby houses.

For a youngster scarcely ten inches high, and with so few early
advantages as he doubtless had had, Moa Artua was certainly a
precocious little fellow if he really said all that was imputed
to him; but for what reason this poor devil of a deity, thus
cuffed about, cajoled, and shut up in a box, was held in greater
estimation than the full-grown and dignified personages of the
Taboo Groves, I cannot divine.  And yet Mehevi, and other chiefs
of unquestionable veracity--to say nothing of the Primate
himself--assured me over and over again that Moa Artua was the
tutelary deity of Typee, and was more to be held in honour than a
whole battalion of the clumsy idols in the Hoolah Hoolah grounds.

Kory-Kory--who seemed to have devoted considerable attention to
the study of theology, as he knew the names of all the graven
images in the valley, and often repeated them over to
me--likewise entertained some rather enlarged ideas with regard
to the character and pretensions of Moa Artua.  He once gave me
to understand, with a gesture there was no misconceiving, that if
he (Moa Artua) were so minded he could cause a cocoanut tree to
sprout out of his (Kory-Kory's) head; and that it would be the
easiest thing in life for him (Moa Artua) to take the whole
island of Nukuheva in his mouth and dive down to the bottom of
the sea with it.

But in sober seriousness, I hardly knew what to make of the
religion of the valley.  There was nothing that so much perplexed
the illustrious Cook, in his intercourse with the South Sea
islanders, as their sacred rites.  Although this prince of
navigators was in many instances assisted by interpreters in the
prosecution of his researches, he still frankly acknowledges that
he was at a loss to obtain anything like a clear insight into the
puzzling arcana of their faith.  A similar admission has been
made by other eminent voyagers: by Carteret, Byron, Kotzebue, and
Vancouver.

For my own part, although hardly a day passed while I remained
upon the island that I did not witness some religious ceremony or
other, it was very much like seeing a panel of 'Freemasons'
making secret signs to each other; I saw everything, but could
comprehend nothing.

On the whole, I am inclined to believe, that the islanders in the
Pacific have no fixed and definite ideas whatever on the subject
of religion.  I am persuaded that Kolory himself would be
effectually posed were he called upon to draw up the articles of
his faith and pronounce the creed by which he hoped to be saved.  
In truth, the Typees, so far as their actions evince, submitted
to no laws human or divine--always excepting the thrice
mysterious Taboo.  The 'independent electors' of the valley were
not to be brow-beaten by chiefs, priests, idol or devils.  As for
the luckless idols, they received more hard knocks than
supplications.  I do not wonder that some of them looked so grim,
and stood so bolt upright as if fearful of looking to the right
or the left lest they should give any one offence.  The fact is,
they had to carry themselves 'PRETTY STRAIGHT,' or suffer the
consequences.  Their worshippers were such a precious set of
fickle-minded and irreverent heathens, that there was no telling
when they might topple one of them over, break it to pieces, and
making a fire with it on the very altar itself, fall to roasting
the offerings of bread-fruit, and at them in spite of its teeth.

In how little reverence these unfortunate deities were held by
the natives was on one occasion most convincingly proved to
me.--Walking with Kory-Kory through the deepest recesses of the
groves, I perceived a curious looking image, about six feet in
height which originally had been placed upright against a low
pi-pi, surmounted by a ruinous bamboo temple, but having become
fatigued and weak in the knees, was now carelessly leaning
against it.  The idol was partly concealed by the foliage of a
tree which stood near, and whose leafy boughs drooped over the
pile of stones, as if to protect the rude fane from the decay to
which it was rapidly hastening.  The image itself was nothing
more than a grotesquely shaped log, carved in the likeness of a
portly naked man with the arms clasped over the head, the jaws
thrown wide apart, and its thick shapeless legs bowed into an
arch.  It was much decayed.  The lower part was overgrown with a
bright silky moss.  Thin spears of grass sprouted from the
distended mouth, and fringed the outline of the head and arms.  
His godship had literally attained a green old age.  All its
prominent points were bruised and battered, or entirely rotted
away.  The nose had taken its departure, and from the general
appearance of the head it might have, been supposed that the
wooden divinity, in despair at the neglect of its worshippers,
had been trying to beat its own brains out against the
surrounding trees.

I drew near to inspect more closely this strange object of
idolatry, but halted reverently at the distance of two or three
paces, out of regard to the religious prejudices of my valet.  As
soon, however, as Kory-Kory perceived that I was in one of my
inquiring, scientific moods, to my astonishment, he sprang to the
side of the idol, and pushing it away from the stones against
which it rested, endeavoured to make it stand upon its legs.  But
the divinity had lost the use of them altogether; and while
Kory-Kory was trying to prop it up, placing a stick between it
and the pi-pi, the monster fell clumsily to the ground, and would
have infallibly have broken its neck had not Kory-Kory
providentially broken its fall by receiving its whole weight on
his own half-crushed back.  I never saw the honest fellow in such
a rage before.  He leaped furiously to his feet, and seizing the
stick, began beating the poor image: every moment, or two pausing
and talking to it in the most violent manner, as if upbraiding it
for the accident.  When his indignation had subsided a little he
whirled the idol about most profanely, so as to give me an
opportunity of examining it on all sides.  I am quite sure I
never should have presumed to have taken such liberties with the
god myself, and I was not a little shocked at Kory-Kory's
impiety.

This anecdote speaks for itself.  When one of the inferior order
of natives could show such contempt for a venerable and decrepit
God of the Groves, what the state of religion must be among the
people in general is easy to be imagined.  In truth, I regard the
Typees as a back-slidden generation.  They are sunk in religious
sloth, and require a spiritual revival.  A long prosperity of
bread-fruit and cocoanuts has rendered them remiss in the
performance of their higher obligations.  The wood-rot malady is
spreading among the idols--the fruit upon their altars is
becoming offensive--the temples themselves need rethatching--the
tattooed clergy are altogether too light-hearted and lazy--and
their flocks are going astray.



CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

GENERAL INFORMATION GATHERED AT THE FESTIVAL--PERSONAL BEAUTY OF
THE TYPEES--THEIR SUPERIORITY OVER THE INHABITANTS OF THE OTHER
ISLANDS--DIVERSITY OF COMPLEXION--A VEGETABLE COSMETIC AND
OINTMENT--TESTIMONY OF VOYAGERS TO THE UNCOMMON BEAUTY OF THE
MARQUESANS--FEW EVIDENCES OF INTERCOURSE WITH CIVILIZED
BEINGS--DILAPIDATED MUSKET--PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY OF GOVERNMENT--
REGAL DIGNITY OF MEHEVI

ALTHOUGH I had been unable during the late festival to obtain
information on many interesting subjects which had much excited
my curiosity, still that important event had not passed by
without adding materially to my general knowledge of the
islanders.

I was especially struck by the physical strength and beauty which
they displayed, by their great superiority in these respects over
the inhabitants of the neighbouring bay of Nukuheva, and by the
singular contrasts they presented among themselves in their
various shades of complexion.

In beauty of form they surpassed anything I had ever seen.  Not a
single instance of natural deformity was observable in all the
throng attending the revels.  Occasionally I noticed among the
men the scars of wounds they had received in battle; and
sometimes, though very seldom, the loss of a finger, an eye, or
an arm, attributable to the same cause.  With these exceptions,
every individual appeared free from those blemishes which
sometimes mar the effect of an otherwise perfect form.  But their
physical excellence did not merely consist in an exemption from
these evils; nearly every individual of their number might have
been taken for a sculptor's model.

When I remembered that these islanders derived no advantage from
dress, but appeared in all the naked simplicity of nature, I
could not avoid comparing them with the fine gentlemen and
dandies who promenade such unexceptionable figures in our
frequented thoroughfares.  Stripped of the cunning artifices of
the tailor, and standing forth in the garb of Eden--what a sorry,
set of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked, crane-necked varlets
would civilized men appear!  Stuffed calves, padded breasts, and
scientifically cut pantaloons would then avail them nothing, and
the effect would be truly deplorable.

Nothing in the appearance of the islanders struck me more
forcibly than the whiteness of their teeth.  The novelist always
compares the masticators of his heroine to ivory; but I boldly
pronounce the teeth of the Typee to be far more beautiful than
ivory itself.  The jaws of the oldest graybeards among them were
much better garnished than those of most of the youths of
civilized countries; while the teeth of the young and
middle-aged, in their purity and whiteness, were actually
dazzling to the eye.  Their marvellous whiteness of the teeth is
to be ascribed to the pure vegetable diet of these people, and
the uninterrupted healthfulness of their natural mode of life.

The men, in almost every instance, are of lofty stature, scarcely
ever less than six feet in height, while the other sex are
uncommonly diminutive.  The early period of life at which the
human form arrives at maturity in this generous tropical climate,
likewise deserves to be mentioned.  A little creature, not more
than thirteen years of age, and who in other particulars might be
regarded as a mere child, is often seen nursing her own baby,
whilst lads who, under less ripening skies, would be still at
school, are here responsible fathers of families.

On first entering the Typee Valley, I had been struck with the
marked contrast presented by its inhabitants with those of the
bay I had previously left.  In the latter place, I had not been
favourably impressed with the personal appearance of the male
portion of the population; although with the females, excepting
in some truly melancholy instances, I had been wonderfully
pleased.  I had observed that even the little intercourse
Europeans had carried on with the Nukuheva natives had not failed
to leave its traces amongst them.  One of the most dreadful
curses under which humanity labours had commenced its havocks,
and betrayed, as it ever does among the South Sea islanders, the
most aggravated symptoms.  From this, as from all other foreign
inflictions, the yet uncontaminated tenants of the Typee Valley
were wholly exempt; and long may they continue so.  Better will
it be for them for ever to remain the happy and innocent heathens
and barbarians that they now are, than, like the wretched
inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, to enjoy the mere name of
Christians without experiencing any of the vital operations of
true religion, whilst, at the same time, they are made the
victims of the worst vices and evils of civilized life.

Apart, however, from these considerations, I am inclined to
believe that there exists a radical difference between the two
tribes, if indeed they are not distinct races of men.  To those
who have merely touched at Nukuheva Bay, without visiting other
portions of the island, it would hardly appear credible the
diversities presented between the various small clans inhabiting
so diminutive a spot.  But the hereditary hostility which has
existed between them for ages, fully accounts for this.

Not so easy, however, is it to assign an adequate cause for the
endless variety of complexions to be seen in the Typee Valley.  
During the festival, I had noticed several young females whose
skins were almost as white as any Saxon damsel's; a slight dash
of the mantling brown being all that marked the difference.  This
comparative fairness of complexion, though in a great degree
perfectly natural, is partly the result of an artificial process,
and of an entire exclusion from the sun.  The juice of the 'papa'
root found in great abundance at the head of the valley, is held
in great esteem as a cosmetic, with which many of the females
daily anoint their whole person.  The habitual use of it whitens
and beautifies the skin.  Those of the young girls who resort to
this method of heightening their charms, never expose themselves
selves to the rays of the sun; an observance, however, that
produces little or no inconvenience, since there are but few of
the inhabited portions of the vale which are not shaded over with
a spreading canopy of boughs, so that one may journey from house
to house, scarcely deviating from the direct course, and yet
never once see his shadow cast upon the ground.

The 'papa', when used, is suffered to remain upon the skin for
several hours; being of a light green colour, it consequently
imparts for the time a similar hue to the complexion.  Nothing,
therefore, can be imagined more singular than the appearance of
these nearly naked damsels immediately after the application of
the cosmetic.  To look at one of them you would almost suppose
she was some vegetable in an unripe state; and that, instead of
living in the shade for ever, she ought to be placed out in the
sun to ripen.

All the islanders are more or less in the habit of anointing
themselves; the women preferring the 'aker' to 'papa', and the
men using the oil of the cocoanut.  Mehevi was remarkable fond of
mollifying his entire cuticle with this ointment.  Sometimes he
might be seen, with his whole body fairly reeking with the
perfumed oil of the nut, looking as if he had just emerged from a
soap-boiler's vat, or had undergone the process of dipping in a
tallow-chandlery.  To this cause perhaps, united to their
frequent bathing and extreme cleanliness, is ascribable, in a
great measure, the marvellous purity and smoothness of skin
exhibited by the natives in general.

The prevailing tint among the women of the valley was a light
olive, and of this style of complexion Fayaway afforded the most
beautiful example.  Others were still darker; while not a few
were of a genuine golden colour, and some of a swarthy hue.

As agreeing with much previously mentioned in this narrative I
may here observe that Mendanna, their discoverer, in his account
of the Marquesas, described the natives as wondrously beautiful
to behold, and as nearly resembling the people of southern
Europe.  The first of these islands seen by Mendanna was La
Madelena, which is not far distant from Nukuheva; and its
inhabitants in every respect resemble those dwelling on that and
the other islands of the group.  Figueroa, the chronicler of
Mendanna's voyage, says, that on the morning the land was
descried, when the Spaniards drew near the shore, there sallied
forth, in rude progression, about seventy canoes, and at the same
time many of the inhabitants (females I presume) made towards the
ships by swimming.  He adds, that 'in complexion they were nearly
white; of good stature, and finely formed; and on their faces and
bodies were delineated representations of fishes and other
devices'.  The old Don then goes on to say, 'There came, among
others, two lads paddling their canoe, whose eyes were fixed on
the ship; they had beautiful faces and the most promising
animation of countenance; and were in all things so becoming,
that the pilot-mayor Quiros affirmed, nothing in his life ever
caused him so much regret as the leaving such fine creatures to
be lost in that country.'*  More than two hundred years have gone
by since the passage of which the above is a translation was
written; and it appears to me now, as I read it, as fresh and
true as if written but yesterday.  The islanders are still the
same; and I have seen boys in the Typee Valley of whose
'beautiful faces' and promising 'animation of countenance' no one
who has not beheld them can form any adequate idea.  Cook, in the
account of his voyage, pronounces the Marquesans as by far the
most splendid islanders in the South Seas.  Stewart, the chaplain
of the U.S.  ship Vincennes, in his 'Scenes in the South Seas',
expresses, in more than one place, his amazement at the
surpassing loveliness of the women; and says that many of the
Nukuheva damsels reminded him forcibly of the most celebrated
beauties in his own land.  Fanning, a Yankee mariner of some
reputation, likewise records his lively impressions of the
physical appearance of these people; and Commodore David Porter
of the U.S.  frigate Essex, is said to have been vastly smitten
by the beauty of the ladies.  Their great superiority over all
other Polynesians cannot fail to attract the notice of those who
visit the principal groups in the Pacific.  The voluptuous
Tahitians are the only people who at all deserve to be compared
with them; while the dark-haired Hawaiians and the woolly-headed
Feejees are immeasurably inferior to them.  The distinguishing
characteristic of the Marquesan islanders, and that which at once
strikes you, is the European cast of their features--a
peculiarity seldom observable among other uncivilized people. 
Many of their faces present profiles classically beautiful, and
in the valley of Typee I saw several who, like the stranger
Marnoo, were in every respect models of beauty.

* This passage, which is cited as an almost literal translation
from the original, I found in a small volume entitled
'Circumnavigation of the Globe, in which volume are several
extracts from 'Dalrymple's Historical Collections'.  The
last-mentioned work I have never seen, but it is said to contain
a very correct English version of great part of the learned
Doctor Christoval Suaverde da Figueroa's History of Mendanna's
Voyage, published at Madrid, A.D.  1613.



Some of the natives present at the Feast of Calabashes had
displayed a few articles of European dress; disposed however,
about their persons after their own peculiar fashion.  Among
these I perceived two pieces of cotton-cloth which poor Toby and
myself had bestowed upon our youthful guides the afternoon we
entered the valley.  They were evidently reserved for gala days;
and during those of the festival they rendered the young
islanders who wore them very distinguished characters.  The small
number who were similarly adorned, and the great value they
appeared to place upon the most common and most trivial articles,
furnished ample evidence of the very restricted intercourse they
held with vessels touching at the island.  A few cotton
handkerchiefs, of a gay pattern, tied about the neck, and
suffered to fall over the shoulder; strips of fanciful calico,
swathed about the loins, were nearly all I saw.

Indeed, throughout the valley, there were few things of any kind
to be seen of European origin.  All I ever saw, besides the
articles just alluded to, were the six muskets preserved in the
Ti, and three or four similar implements of warfare hung up in
other houses; some small canvas bags, partly filled with bullets
and powder, and half a dozen old hatchet-heads, with the edges
blunted and battered to such a degree as to render them utterly
worthless.  These last seemed to be regarded as nearly worthless
by the natives; and several times they held up, one of them
before me, and throwing it aside with a gesture of disgust,
manifested their contempt for anything that could so soon become
unserviceable.

But the muskets, the powder, and the bullets were held in most
extravagant esteem.  The former, from their great age and the
peculiarities they exhibited, were well worthy a place in any
antiquarian's armoury.  I remember in particular one that hung in
the Ti, and which Mehevi--supposing as a matter of course that I
was able to repair it--had put into my hands for that purpose.  
It was one of those clumsy, old-fashioned, English pieces known
generally as Tower Hill muskets, and, for aught I know, might
have been left on the island by Wallace, Carteret, Cook, or
Vancouver.  The stock was half rotten and worm-eaten; the lock
was as rusty and about as well adapted to its ostensible purpose
as an old door-hinge; the threading of the screws about the
trigger was completely worn away; while the barrel shook in the
wood.  Such was the weapon the chief desired me to restore to its
original condition.  As I did not possess the accomplishments of
a gunsmith, and was likewise destitute of the necessary tools, I
was reluctantly obliged to signify my inability to perform the
task.  At this unexpected communication Mehevi regarded me, for a
moment, as if he half suspected I was some inferior sort of white
man, who after all did not know much more than a Typee.  However,
after a most laboured explanation of the matter, I succeeded in
making him understand the extreme difficulty of the task.  
Scarcely satisfied with my apologies, however, he marched off
with the superannuated musket in something of a huff, as if he
would no longer expose it to the indignity of being manipulated
by such unskilful fingers.

During the festival I had not failed to remark the simplicity of
manner, the freedom from all restraint, and, to certain degree,
the equality of condition manifested by the natives in general.  
No one appeared to assume any arrogant pretensions.  There was
little more than a slight difference in costume to distinguish
the chiefs from the other natives.  All appeared to mix together
freely, and without any reserve; although I noticed that the
wishes of a chief, even when delivered in the mildest tone,
received the same immediate obedience which elsewhere would have
been only accorded to a peremptory command.  What may be the
extent of the authority of the chiefs over the rest of the tribe,
I will not venture to assert; but from all I saw during my stay
in the valley, I was induced to believe that in matters
concerning the general welfare it was very limited.  The required
degree of deference towards them, however, was willingly and
cheerfully yielded; and as all authority is transmitted from
father to son, I have no doubt that one of the effects here, as
elsewhere, of high birth, is to induce respect and obedience.

The civil institutions of the Marquesas Islands appear to be in
this, as in other respects, directly the reverse of those of the
Tahitian and Hawiian groups, where the original power of the king
and chiefs was far more despotic than that of any tyrant in
civilized countries.  At Tahiti it used to be death for one of
the inferior orders to approach, without permission, under the
shadow, of the king's house; or to fail in paying the customary
reverence when food destined for the king was borne past them by
his messengers.  At the Sandwich Islands, Kaahumanu, the gigantic
old dowager queen--a woman of nearly four hundred pounds weight,
and who is said to be still living at Mowee--was accustomed, in
some of her terrific gusts of temper, to snatch up an ordinary
sized man who had offended her, and snap his spine across her
knee.  Incredible as this may seem, it is a fact.  While at
Lahainaluna--the residence of this monstrous Jezebel--a
humpbacked wretch was pointed out to me, who, some twenty-five
years previously, had had the vertebrae of his backbone very
seriously discomposed by his gentle mistress.

The particular grades of rank existing among the chiefs of Typee,
I could not in all cases determine.  Previous to the Feast of
Calabashes I had been puzzled what particular station to assign
to Mehevi.  But the important part he took upon that occasion
convinced me that he had no superior among the inhabitants of the
valley.  I had invariably noticed a certain degree of deference
paid to him by all with whom I had ever seen him brought in
contact; but when I remembered that my wanderings had been
confined to a limited portion of the valley, and that towards the
sea a number of distinguished chiefs resided, some of whom had
separately visited me at Marheyo's house, and whom, until the
Festival, I had never seen in the company of Mehevi, I felt
disposed to believe that his rank after all might not be
particularly elevated.

The revels, however, had brought together all the warriors whom I
had seen individually and in groups at different times and
places.  Among them Mehevi moved with an easy air of superiority
which was not to be mistaken; and he whom I had only looked at as
the hospitable host of the Ti, and one of the military leaders of
the tribe, now assumed in my eyes the dignity of royal station.  
His striking costume, no less than his naturally commanding
figure, seemed indeed to give him pre-eminence over the rest.  
The towering helmet of feathers that he wore raised him in height
above all who surrounded him; and though some others were
similarly adorned, the length and luxuriance of their plumes were
inferior to his.

Mehevi was in fact the greatest of the chiefs--the head of his
clan--the sovereign of the valley; and the simplicity of the
social institutions of the people could not have been more
completely proved than by the fact, that after having been
several weeks in the valley, and almost in daily intercourse with
Mehevi, I should have remained until the time of the festival
ignorant of his regal character.  But a new light had now broken
in upon me.  The Ti was the palace--and Mehevi the king.  Both
the one and the other of a most simple and patriarchal nature: it
must be allowed, and wholly unattended by the ceremonious pomp
which usually surrounds the purple.

After having made this discovery I could not avoid congratulating
myself that Mehevi had from the first taken me as it were under
his royal protection, and that he still continued to entertain
for me the warmest regard, as far at least as I was enabled to
judge from appearances.  For the future I determined to pay most
assiduous court to him, hoping that eventually through his
kindness I might obtain my liberty.



CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

KING MEHEVI--ALLUSION TO HIS HAWIIAN MAJESTY--CONDUCT OF MARHEYO
AND MEHEVI IN CERTAIN DELICATE MATTERS--PECULIAR SYSTEM OF
MARRIAGE--NUMBER OF POPULATION--UNIFORMITY--EMBALMING--PLACES OF
SEPULTURE--FUNERAL OBSEQUIES AT NUKUHEVA-NUMBER OF INHABITANTS IN
TYPEE--LOCATION OF THE DWELLINGS--HAPPINESS ENJOYED IN THE
VALLEY--A WARNING--SOME IDEAS WITH REGARD TO THE PRESENT STATE OF
THE HAWIIANS--STORY OF A MISSIONARY'S WIFE--FASHIONABLE EQUIPAGES
AT OAHU--REFLECTIONS

KING MEHEVI!--A goodly sounding title--and why should I not
bestow it upon the foremost man in the valley of Typee?  The
republican missionaries of Oahu cause to be gazetted in the Court
Journal, published at Honolulu, the most trivial movement of 'his
gracious majesty' King Kammehammaha III, and 'their highnesses
the princes of the blood royal'.*  And who is his 'gracious
majesty', and what the quality of this blood royal'?--His
'gracious majesty' is a fat, lazy, negro-looking blockhead, with
as little character as power.  He has lost the noble traits of
the barbarian, without acquiring the redeeming graces of a
civilized being; and, although a member of the Hawiian Temperance
Society, is a most inveterate dram-drinker.

*Accounts like these are sometimes copied into English and
American journals.  They lead the reader to infer that the arts
and customs of civilized life are rapidly refining the natives of
the Sandwich Islands.  But let no one be deceived by these
accounts.  The chiefs swagger about in gold lace and broadcloth,
while the great mass of the common people are nearly as primitive
in their appearance as in the days of Cook.  In the progress of
events at these islands, the two classes are receding from each
other; the chiefs are daily becoming more luxurious and
extravagant in their style of living, and the common people more
and more destitute of the necessaries and decencies of life.  But
the end to which both will arrive at last will be the same: the
one are fast destroying themselves by sensual indulgences, and
the other are fast being destroyed by a complication of
disorders, and the want of wholesome food.  The resources of the
domineering chiefs are wrung from the starving serfs, and every
additional bauble with which they bedeck themselves is purchased
by the sufferings of their bondsmen; so that the measure of
gew-gaw refinement attained by the chiefs is only an index to the
actual state in which the greater portion of the population lie
grovelling.



The 'blood royal' is an extremely thick, depraved fluid; formed
principally of raw fish, bad brandy, and European sweetmeats, and
is charged with a variety of eruptive humours, which are
developed in sundry blotches and pimples upon the august face of
'majesty itself', and the angelic countenances of the 'princes
and princesses of the blood royal'!

Now, if the farcical puppet of a chief magistrate in the Sandwich
Islands be allowed the title of King, why should it be withheld
from the noble savage Mehevi, who is a thousand times more worthy
of the appellation?  All hail, therefore, Mehevi, King of the
Cannibal Valley, and long life and prosperity to his Typeean
majesty!  May Heaven for many a year preserve him, the
uncompromising foe of Nukuheva and the French, if a hostile
attitude will secure his lovely domain from the remorseless
inflictions of South Sea civilization.

Previously to seeing the Dancing Widows I had little idea that
there were any matrimonial relations subsisting in Typee, and I
should as soon have thought of a Platonic affection being
cultivated between the sexes, as of the solemn connection of man
and wife.  To be sure, there were old Marheyo and Tinor, who
seemed to have a sort of nuptial understanding with one another;
but for all that, I had sometimes observed a comical-looking old
gentleman dressed in a suit of shabby tattooing, who had the
audacity to take various liberties with the lady, and that too in
the very presence of the old warrior her husband, who looked on
as good-naturedly as if nothing was happening.  This behaviour,
until subsequent discoveries enlightened me, puzzled me more than
anything else I witnessed in Typee.

As for Mehevi, I had supposed him a confirmed bachelor, as well
as most of the principal chiefs.  At any rate, if they had wives
and families, they ought to have been ashamed of themselves; for
sure I am, they never troubled themselves about any domestic
affairs.  In truth, Mehevi seemed to be the president of a club
of hearty fellows, who kept 'Bachelor's Hall' in fine style at
the Ti.  I had no doubt but that they regarded children as odious
incumbrances; and their ideas of domestic felicity were
sufficiently shown in the fact, that they allowed no meddlesome
housekeepers to turn topsy-turvy those snug little arrangements
they had made in their comfortable dwelling.  I strongly
suspected however, that some of these jolly bachelors were
carrying on love intrigues with the maidens of the tribe;
although they did not appear publicly to acknowledge them.  I
happened to pop upon Mehevi three or four times when he was
romping--in a most undignified manner for a warrior king--with
one of the prettiest little witches in the valley.  She lived
with an old woman and a young man, in a house near Marheyo's; and
although in appearance a mere child herself, had a noble boy
about a year old, who bore a marvellous resemblance to Mehevi,
whom I should certainly have believed to have been the father,
were it not that the little fellow had no triangle on his
face--but on second thoughts, tattooing is not hereditary.
Mehevi, however, was not the only person upon whom the damsel
Moonoony smiled--the young fellow of fifteen, who permanently
resided in the home with her, was decidedly in her good graces.  
I sometimes beheld both him and the chief making love at the same
time.  Is it possible, thought I, that the valiant warrior can
consent to give up a corner in the thing he loves?  This too was
a mystery which, with others of the same kind, was afterwards
satisfactorily explained.

During the second day of the Feast of Calabashes,
Kory-Kory--being determined that I should have some understanding
on these matters--had, in the course of his explanations,
directed my attention to a peculiarity I had frequently remarked
among many of the females;--principally those of a mature age and
rather matronly appearance.  This consisted in having the right
hand and the left foot most elaborately tattooed; whilst the rest
of the body was wholly free from the operation of the art, with
the exception of the minutely dotted lips and slight marks on the
shoulders, to which I have previously referred as comprising the
sole tattooing exhibited by Fayaway, in common with other young
girls of her age.  The hand and foot thus embellished were,
according to Kory-Kory, the distinguishing badge of wedlock, so
far as that social and highly commendable institution is known
among those people.  It answers, indeed, the same purpose as the
plain gold ring worn by our fairer spouses.

After Kory-Kory's explanation of the subject, I was for some time
studiously respectful in the presence of all females thus
distinguished, and never ventured to indulge in the slightest
approach to flirtation with any of their number.  Married women,
to be sure!--I knew better than to offend them.

A further insight, however, into the peculiar domestic customs of
the inmates of the valley did away in a measure with the severity
of my scruples, and convinced me that I was deceived in some at
least of my conclusions.  A regular system of polygamy exists
among the islanders; but of a most extraordinary nature,--a
plurality of husbands, instead of wives!  and this solitary fact
speaks volumes for the gentle disposition of the male population.

Where else, indeed, could such a practice exist, even for a
single day?--Imagine a revolution brought about in a Turkish
seraglio, and the harem rendered the abode of bearded men; or
conceive some beautiful woman in our own country running
distracted at the sight of her numerous lovers murdering one
another before her eyes, out of jealousy for the unequal
distribution of her favours!--Heaven defend us from such a state
of things!--We are scarcely amiable and forbearing enough to
submit to it.

I was not able to learn what particular ceremony was observed in
forming the marriage contract, but am inclined to think that it
must have been of a very simple nature.  Perhaps the mere
'popping the question', as it is termed with us, might have been
followed by an immediate nuptial alliance.  At any rate, I have
more than one reason to believe that tedious courtships are
unknown in the valley of Typee.

The males considerably outnumber the females.  This holds true of
many of the islands of Polynesia, although the reverse of what is
the case in most civilized countries.  The girls are first wooed
and won, at a very tender age, by some stripling in the household
in which they reside.  This, however, is a mere frolic of the
affections, and no formal engagement is contracted.  By the time
this first love has a little subsided, a second suitor presents
himself, of graver years, and carries both boy and girl away to
his own habitation.  This disinterested and generous-hearted
fellow now weds the young couple--marrying damsel and lover at
the same time--and all three thenceforth live together as
harmoniously as so many turtles.  I have, heard of some men who
in civilized countries rashly marry large families with their
wives, but had no idea that there was any place where people
married supplementary husbands with them.  Infidelity on either
side is very rare.  No man has more than one wife, and no wife of
mature years has less than two husbands,--sometimes she has
three, but such instances are not frequent.  The marriage tie,
whatever it may be, does not appear to be indissoluble; for
separations occasionally happen.  These, however, when they do
take place, produce no unhappiness, and are preceded by no
bickerings; for the simple reason, than an ill-used wife or a
henpecked husband is not obliged to file a bill in Chancery to
obtain a divorce.  As nothing stands in the way of a separation,
the matrimonial yoke sits easily and lightly, and a Typee wife
lives on very pleasant and sociable terms with her husband.  On
the whole, wedlock, as known among these Typees, seems to be of a
more distinct and enduring nature than is usually the case with
barbarous people.  A baneful promiscuous intercourse of the sexes
is hereby avoided, and virtue, without being damorously invoked,
is, as it were, unconsciously practised.

The contrast exhibited between the Marquesas and other islands of
the Pacific in this respect, is worthy of being noticed.  At
Tahiti the marriage tie was altogether unknown; and the relation
of husband and wife, father and son, could hardly be said to
exist.  The Arreory Society--one of the most singular
institutions that ever existed in any part of the world--spread
universal licentiousness over the island.  It was the voluptuous
character of these people which rendered the disease introduced
among them by De Bougainville's ships; in 1768, doubly
destructive.  It visited them like a plague, sweeping them off by
hundreds.

Notwithstanding the existence of wedlock among the Typees, the
Scriptural injunction to increase and multiply seems to be but
indifferently attended to.  I never saw any of those large
families in arithmetical or step-ladder progression which one
often meets with at home.  I never knew of more than two
youngsters living together in the same home, and but seldom even
that number.  As for the women, it was very plain that the
anxieties of the nursery but seldom disturbed the serenity of
their souls; and they were never seen going about the valley with
half a score of little ones tagging at their apronstrings, or
rather at the bread-fruit-leaf they usually wore in the rear.

The ratio of increase among all the Polynesian nations is very
small; and in some places as yet uncorrupted by intercourse with
Europeans, the births would appear not very little to outnumber
the deaths; the population in such instances remaining nearly the
same for several successive generations, even upon those islands
seldom or never desolated by wars, and among people with whom the
crime of infanticide is altogether unknown.  This would seem
expressively ordained by Providence to prevent the overstocking
of the islands with a race too indolent to cultivate the ground,
and who, for that reason alone, would, by any considerable
increase in their numbers, be exposed to the most deplorable
misery.  During the entire period of my stay in the valley of
Typee, I never saw more than ten or twelve children under the age
of six months, and only became aware of two births.

It is to the looseness of the marriage tie that the late rapid
decrease of the population of the Sandwich Islands and of Tahiti
is in part to be ascribed.  The vices and diseases introduced
among these unhappy people annually swell the ordinary mortality
of the islands, while, from the same cause, the originally small
number of births is proportionally decreased.  Thus the progress
of the Hawiians and Tahitians to utter extinction is accelerated
in a sort of compound ratio.

I have before had occasion to remark, that I never saw any of the
ordinary signs of a pace of sepulture in the valley, a
circumstance which I attributed, at the time, to my living in a
particular part of it, and being forbidden to extend my ramble to
any considerable distance towards the sea.  I have since thought
it probable, however, that the Typees, either desirous of
removing from their sight the evidences of mortality, or prompted
by a taste for rural beauty, may have some charming cemetery
situation in the shadowy recesses along the base of the
mountains.  At Nukuheva, two or three large quadrangular
'pi-pis', heavily flagged, enclosed with regular stone walls, and
shaded over and almost hidden from view by the interlacing
branches of enormous trees, were pointed out to me as
burial-places.  The bodies, I understood, were deposited in rude
vaults beneath the flagging, and were suffered to remain there
without being disinterred.  Although nothing could be more
strange and gloomy than the aspect of these places, where the
lofty trees threw their dark shadows over rude blocks of stone, a
stranger looking at them would have discerned none of the
ordinary evidences of a place of sepulture.

During my stay in the valley, as none of its inmates were so
accommodating as to die and be buried in order to gratify my
curiosity with regard to their funeral rites, I was reluctantly
obliged to remain in ignorance of them.  As I have reason to
believe, however, the observances of the Typees in these matters
are the same with those of all the other tribes in the island, I
will here relate a scene I chanced to witness at Nukuheva.

A young man had died, about daybreak, in a house near the beach.  
I had been sent ashore that morning, and saw a good deal of the
preparations they were making for his obsequies.  The body,
neatly wrapped in a new white tappa, was laid out in an open shed
of cocoanut boughs, upon a bier constructed of elastic bamboos
ingeniously twisted together.  This was supported about two feet
from the ground, by large canes planted uprightly in the earth.  
Two females, of a dejected appearance, watched by its side,
plaintively chanting and beating the air with large grass fans
whitened with pipe-clay.  In the dwelling-house adjoining a
numerous company we assembled, and various articles of food were
being prepared for consumption.  Two or three individuals,
distinguished by head-dresses of beautiful tappa, and wearing a
great number of ornaments, appeared to officiate as masters of
the ceremonies.  By noon the entertainment had fairly begun and
we were told that it would last during the whole of the two
following days.  With the exception of those who mourned by the
corpse, every one seemed disposed to drown the sense of the late
bereavement in convivial indulgence.  The girls, decked out in
their savage finery, danced; the old men chanted; the warriors
smoked and chatted; and the young and lusty, of both sexes,
feasted plentifully, and seemed to enjoy themselves as pleasantly
as they could have done had it been a wedding.

The islanders understand the art of embalming, and practise it
with such success that the bodies of their great chiefs are
frequently preserved for many years in the very houses where they
died.  I saw three of these in my visit to the Bay of Tior.  One
was enveloped in immense folds of tappa, with only the face
exposed, and hung erect against the side of the dwelling.  The
others were stretched out upon biers of bamboo, in open, elevated
temples, which seemed consecrated to their memory.  The heads of
enemies killed in battle are invariably preserved and hung up as
trophies in the house of the conqueror.  I am not acquainted with
the process which is in use, but believe that fumigation is the
principal agency employed.  All the remains which I saw presented
the appearance of a ham after being suspended for some time in a
smoky chimney.

But to return from the dead to the living.  The late festival had
drawn together, as I had every reason to believe, the whole
population of the vale, and consequently I was enabled to make
some estimate with regard to its numbers.  I should imagine that
there were about two thousand inhabitants in Typee; and no number
could have been better adapted to the extent of the valley.  The
valley is some nine miles in length, and may average one in
breadth; the houses being distributed at wide intervals
throughout its whole extent, principally, however, towards the
head of the vale.  There are no villages; the houses stand here
and there in the shadow of the groves, or are scattered along the
banks of the winding stream; their golden-hued bamboo sides and
gleaming white thatch forming a beautiful contrast to the
perpetual verdure in which they are embowered.  There are no
roads of any kind in the valley.  Nothing but a labyrinth of
footpaths twisting and turning among the thickets without end.

The penalty of the Fall presses very lightly upon the valley of
Typee; for, with the one solitary exception of striking a light,
I scarcely saw any piece of work performed there which caused the
sweat to stand upon a single brow.  As for digging and delving
for a livelihood, the thing is altogether unknown.  Nature has
planted the bread-fruit and the banana, and in her own good time
she brings them to maturity, when the idle savage stretches forth
his hand, and satisfies his appetite.

Ill-fated people!  I shudder when I think of the change a few
years will produce in their paradisaical abode; and probably when
the most destructive vices, and the worst attendances on
civilization, shall have driven all peace and happiness from the
valley, the magnanimous French will proclaim to the world that
the Marquesas Islands have been converted to Christianity!  and
this the Catholic world will doubtless consider as a glorious
event.  Heaven help the 'Isles of the Sea'!--The sympathy which
Christendom feels for them, has, alas!  in too many instances
proved their bane.

How little do some of these poor islanders comprehend when they
look around them, that no inconsiderable part of their disasters
originate in certain tea-party excitements, under the influence
of which benevolent-looking gentlemen in white cravats solicit
alms, and old ladies in spectacles, and young ladies in sober
russet gowns, contribute sixpences towards the creation of a
fund, the object of which is to ameliorate the spiritual
condition of the Polynesians, but whose end has almost invariably
been to accomplish their temporal destruction!

Let the savages be civilized, but civilize them with benefits,
and not with evils; and let heathenism be destroyed, but not by
destroying the heathen.  The Anglo-Saxon hive have extirpated
Paganism from the greater part of the North American continent;
but with it they have likewise extirpated the greater portion of
the Red race.  Civilization is gradually sweeping from the earth
the lingering vestiges of Paganism, and at the same time the
shrinking forms of its unhappy worshippers.

Among the islands of Polynesia, no sooner are the images
overturned, the temples demolished, and the idolators converted
into NOMINAL Christians, that disease, vice, and premature death
make their appearance.  The depopulated land is then recruited
from the rapacious, hordes of enlightened individuals who settle
themselves within its borders, and clamorously announce the
progress of the Truth.  Neat villas, trim gardens, shaven lawns,
spires, and cupolas arise, while the poor savage soon finds
himself an interloper in the country of his fathers, and that too
on the very site of the hut where he was born.  The spontaneous
fruits of the earth, which God in his wisdom had ordained for the
support of the indolent natives, remorselessly seized upon and
appropriated by the stranger, are devoured before the eyes of the
starving inhabitants, or sent on board the numerous vessels which
now touch at their shores.

When the famished wretches are cut off in this manner from their
natural supplies, they are told by their benefactors to work and
earn their support by the sweat of their brows!  But to no fine
gentleman born to hereditary opulence, does this manual labour
come more unkindly than to the luxurious Indian when thus robbed
of the bounty of heaven.  Habituated to a life of indolence, he
cannot and will not exert himself; and want, disease, and vice,
all evils of foreign growth, soon terminate his miserable
existence.

But what matters all this?  Behold the glorious result!--The
abominations of Paganism have given way to the pure rites of the
Christian worship,--the ignorant savage has been supplanted by
the refined European!  Look at Honolulu, the metropolis of the
Sandwich Islands!--A community of disinterested merchants, and
devoted self-exiled heralds of the Cross, located on the very
spot that twenty years ago was defiled by the presence of
idolatry.  What a subject for an eloquent Bible-melting orator!  
Nor has such an opportunity for a display of missionary rhetoric
been allowed to pass by unimproved!--But when these
philanthropists send us such glowing accounts of one half of
their labours, why does their modesty restrain them from
publishing the other half of the good they have wrought?--Not
until I visited Honolulu was I aware of the fact that the small
remnant of the natives had been civilized into drought-horses;
and evangelized into beasts of burden.  But so it is.  They have
been literally broken into the traces, and are harnessed to the
vehicles of their spiritual instructors like so many dumb brutes!

           .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

Lest the slightest misconception should arise from anything
thrown out in this chapter, or indeed in any other part of the
volume, let me here observe that against the cause of missions
in, the abstract no Christian can possibly be opposed: it is in
truth a just and holy cause.  But if the great end proposed by it
be spiritual, the agency employed to accomplish that end is
purely earthly; and, although the object in view be the
achievement of much good, that agency may nevertheless be
productive of evil.  In short, missionary undertaking, however it
may blessed of heaven, is in itself but human; and subject, like
everything else, to errors and abuses.  And have not errors and
abuses crept into the most sacred places, and may there not be
unworthy or incapable missionaries abroad,as well as
ecclesiastics of similar character at home?  May not the
unworthiness or incapacity of those who assume apostolic
functions upon the remote islands of the sea more easily escape
detection by the world at large than if it were displayed in the
heart of a city?  An unwarranted confidence in the sanctity of
its apostles--a proneness to regard them as incapable of
guile--and an impatience of the least suspicion to their
rectitude as men or Christians, have ever been prevailing faults
in the Church.  Nor is this to be wondered at: for subject as
Christianity is to the assaults of unprincipled foes, we are
naturally disposed to regard everything like an exposure of
ecclesiastical misconduct as the offspring of malevolence or
irreligious feeling.  Not even this last consideration, however
shall deter me from the honest expression of my sentiments.

There is something apparently wrong in the practical operations
of the Sandwich Islands Mission.  Those who from pure religious
motives contribute to the support of this enterprise should take
care to ascertain that their donations, flowing through many
devious channels, at last effect their legitimate object, the
conversion of the Hawaiians.  I urge this not because I doubt the
moral probity of those who disburse the funds, but because I know
that they are not rightly applied.  To read pathetic accounts of
missionary hardships, and glowing descriptions of conversion, and
baptisms, taking place beneath palm-trees, is one thing; and to
go to the Sandwich Islands and see the missionaries dwelling in
picturesque and prettily furnished coral-rock villas, whilst the
miserable natives are committing all sorts of immorality around
them, is quite another.

In justice to the missionaries, however, I will willingly admit,
that where-ever evils may have resulted from their collective
mismanagement of the business of the mission, and from the want
of vital piety evinced by some of their number, still the present
deplorable condition of the Sandwich Islands is by no means
wholly chargeable against them.  The demoralizing influence of a
dissolute foreign population, and the frequent visits of all
descriptions of vessels, have tended not a little to increase the
evils alluded to.  In a word, here, as in every case where
civilization has in any way been introduced among those whom we
call savages, she has scattered her vices, and withheld her
blessings.

As wise a man as Shakespeare has said, that the bearer of evil
tidings hath but a losing office; and so I suppose will it prove
with me, in communicating to the trusting friends of the Hawiian
Mission what has been disclosed in various portions of this
narrative.  I am persuaded, however, that as these disclosures
will by their very nature attract attention, so they will lead to
something which will not be without ultimate benefit to the cause
of Christianity in the Sandwich Islands.

I have but one more thing to add in connection with this
subject--those things which I have stated as facts will remain
facts, in spite of whatever the bigoted or incredulous may say or
write against them.  My reflections, however, on those facts may
not be free from error.  If such be the case, I claim no further
indulgence than should be conceded to every man whose object is
to do good.



CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

THE SOCIAL CONDITION AND GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE TYPEES

I HAVE already mentioned that the influence exerted over the
people of the valley by their chiefs was mild in the extreme; and
as to any general rule or standard of conduct by which the
commonality were governed in their intercourse with each other,
so far as my observation extended, I should be almost tempted to
say, that none existed on the island, except, indeed, the
mysterious 'Taboo' be considered as such.  During the time I
lived among the Typees, no one was ever put upon his trial for
any offence against the public.  To all appearance there were no
courts of law or equity.  There was no municipal police for the
purpose of apprehending vagrants and disorderly characters.  In
short, there were no legal provisions whatever for the well-being
and conservation of society, the enlightened end of civilized
legislation.  And yet everything went on in the valley with a
harmony and smoothness unparalleled, I will venture to assert, in
the most select, refined, and pious associations of mortals in
Christendom.  How are we to explain this enigma?  These islanders
were heathens!  savages!  ay, cannibals!  and how came they
without the aid of established law, to exhibit, in so eminent a
degree, that social order which is the greatest blessing and
highest pride of the social state?

It may reasonably be inquired, how were these people governed?
how were their passions controlled in their everyday
transactions?  It must have been by an inherent principle of
honesty and charity towards each other.  They seemed to be
governed by that sort of tacit common-sense law which, say what
they will of the inborn lawlessness of the human race, has its
precepts graven on every breast.  The grand principles of virtue
and honour, however they may be distorted by arbitrary codes, are
the same all the world over: and where these principles are
concerned, the right or wrong of any action appears the same to
the uncultivated as to the enlightened mind.  It is to this
indwelling, this universally diffused perception of what is just
and noble, that the integrity of the Marquesans in their
intercourse with each other, is to be attributed.  In the darkest
nights they slept securely, with all their worldly wealth around
them, in houses the doors of which were never fastened.  The
disquieting ideas of theft or assassination never disturbed them.

Each islander reposed beneath his own palmetto thatching, or sat
under his own bread-fruit trees, with none to molest or alarm
him.  There was not a padlock in the valley, nor anything that
answered the purpose of one: still there was no community of
goods.  This long spear, so elegantly carved, and highly
polished, belongs to Wormoonoo: it is far handsomer than the one
which old Marheyo so greatly prizes; it is the most valuable
article belonging to its owner.  And yet I have seen it leaning
against a cocoanut tree in the grove, and there it was found when
sought for.  Here is a sperm-whale tooth, graven all over with
cunning devices: it is the property of Karluna; it is the most
precious of the damsel's ornaments.  In her estimation its price
is far above rubies--and yet there hangs the dental jewel by its
cord of braided bark, in the girl's house, which is far back in
the valley; the door is left open, and all the inmates have gone
off to bathe in the stream.*

*The strict honesty which the inhabitants of nearly all the
Polynesian Islands manifest toward each other, is in striking
contrast with the thieving propensities some of them evince in
their intercourse with foreigners.  It would almost seem that,
according to their peculiar code of morals, the pilfering of a
hatchet or a wrought nail from a European, is looked upon as a
praiseworthy action.  Or rather, it may be presumed, that bearing
in mind the wholesale forays made upon them by their nautical
visitors, they consider the property of the latter as a fair
object of reprisal.  This consideration, while it serves to
reconcile an apparent contradiction in the moral character of the
islanders, should in some measure alter that low opinion of it
which the reader of South Sea voyages is too apt to form.



So much for the respect in which 'personal property' is held in
Typee; how secure an investment of 'real property' may be, I
cannot take upon me to say.  Whether the land of the valley was
the joint property of its inhabitants, or whether it was
parcelled out among a certain number of landed proprietors who
allowed everybody to 'squat' and 'poach' as much as he or she
pleased, I never could ascertain.  At any rate, musty parchments
and title-deeds there were none on the island; and I am half
inclined to believe that its inhabitants hold their broad valleys
in fee simple from Nature herself; to have and to hold, so long
as grass grows and water runs; or until their French visitors, by
a summary mode of conveyancing, shall appropriate them to their
own benefit and behoof.

Yesterday I saw Kory-Kory hie him away armed with a long pole,
with which, standing on the ground, he knocked down the fruit
from the topmost boughs of the trees, and brought them home in
his basket of cocoanut leaves.  Today I see an islander, whom I
know to reside in a distant part of the valley, doing the
self-same thing.  On the sloping bank of the stream are a number
of banana-trees I have often seen a score or two of young people
making a merry foray on the great golden clusters, and bearing
them off, one after another, to different parts of the vale,
shouting and trampling as they went.  No churlish old curmudgeon
could have been the owner of that grove of bread-fruit trees, or
of these gloriously yellow bunches of bananas.

From what I have said it will be perceived that there is a vast
difference between 'personal property' and 'real estate' in the
valley of Typee.  Some individuals, of course, are more wealthy
than others.  For example, the ridge-pole of Marheyo's house
bends under the weight of many a huge packet of tappa; his long
couch is laid with mats placed one upon the other seven deep. 
Outside, Tinor has ranged along in her bamboo cupboard--or
whatever the place may be called--a goodly array of calabashes
and wooden trenchers.  Now, the house just beyond the grove, and
next to Marheyo's, occupied by Ruaruga, is not quite so well
furnished.   There are only three moderate-sized packages
swinging overhead: there are only two layers of mats beneath; and
the calabashes and trenchers are not so numerous, nor so
tastefully stained and carved.  But then, Ruaruga has a
house--not so pretty a one, to be sure--but just as commodious as
Marheyo's; and, I suppose, if he wished to vie with his
neighbour's establishment, he could do so with very little
trouble.  These, in short, constituted the chief differences
perceivable in the relative wealth of the people in Typee.

Civilization does not engross all the virtues of humanity: she
has not even her full share of them.  They flourish in greater
abundance and attain greater strength among many barbarous
people.  The hospitality of the wild Arab, the courage of the
North American Indian, and the faithful friendship of some of the
Polynesian nations, far surpass anything of a similar kind among
the polished communities of Europe.  If truth and justice, and
the better principles of our nature, cannot exist unless enforced
by the statute-book, how are we to account for the social
condition of the Typees?  So pure and upright were they in all
the relations of life, that entering their valley, as I did,
under the most erroneous impressions of their character, I was
soon led to exclaim in amazement: 'Are these the ferocious
savages, the blood-thirsty cannibals of whom I have heard such
frightful tales!  They deal more kindly with each other, and are
more humane than many who study essays on virtue and benevolence,
and who repeat every night that beautiful prayer breathed first
by the lips of the divine and gentle Jesus.'  I will frankly
declare that after passing a few weeks in this valley of the
Marquesas, I formed a higher estimate of human nature than I had
ever before entertained.  But alas!  since then I have been one
of the crew of a man-of-war, and the pent-up wickedness of five
hundred men has nearly overturned all my previous theories.

There was one admirable trait in the general character of the
Typees which, more than anything else, secured my admiration: it
was the unanimity of feeling they displayed on every occasion.  
With them there hardly appeared to be any difference of opinion
upon any subject whatever.  They all thought and acted alike.  I
do not conceive that they could support a debating society for a
single night: there would be nothing to dispute about; and were
they to call a convention to take into consideration the state of
the tribe, its session would be a remarkably short one.  They
showed this spirit of unanimity in every action of life;
everything was done in concert and good fellowship.  I will give
an instance of this fraternal feeling.

One day, in returning with Kory-Kory from my accustomed visit to
the Ti, we passed by a little opening in the grove; on one side
of which, my attendant informed me, was that afternoon to be
built a dwelling of bamboo.  At least a hundred of the natives
were bringing materials to the ground, some carrying in their
hands one or two of the canes which were to form the sides,
others slender rods of the habiscus, strung with palmetto leaves,
for the roof.  Every one contributed something to the work; and
by the united, but easy, and even indolent, labours of all, the
entire work was completed before sunset.  The islanders, while
employed in erecting this tenement, reminded me of a colony of
beavers at work.  To be sure, they were hardly as silent and
demure as those wonderful creatures, nor were they by any means
as diligent.  To tell the truth they were somewhat inclined to be
lazy, but a perfect tumult of hilarity prevailed; and they worked
together so unitedly, and seemed actuated by such an instinct of
friendliness, that it was truly beautiful to behold.

Not a single female took part in this employment: and if the
degree of consideration in which the ever-adorable sex is held by
the men be--as the philosophers affirm--a just criterion of the
degree of refinement among a people, then I may truly pronounce
the Typees to be as polished a community as ever the sun shone
upon.  The religious restrictions of the taboo alone excepted,
the women of the valley were allowed every possible indulgence.  
Nowhere are the ladies more assiduously courted; nowhere are they
better appreciated as the contributors to our highest enjoyments;
and nowhere are they more sensible of their power.  Far different
from their condition among many rude nations, where the women are
made to perform all the work while their ungallant lords and
masters lie buried in sloth, the gentle sex in the valley of
Typee were exempt from toil, if toil it might be called that,
even in the tropical climate, never distilled one drop of
perspiration.  Their light household occupations, together with
the manufacture of tappa, the platting of mats, and the polishing
of drinking-vessels, were the only employments pertaining to the
women.  And even these resembled those pleasant avocations which
fill up the elegant morning leisure of our fashionable ladies at
home.  But in these occupations, slight and agreeable though they
were, the giddy young girls very seldom engaged.  Indeed these
wilful care-killing damsels were averse to all useful employment.

Like so many spoiled beauties, they ranged through the
groves--bathed in the stream--danced--flirted--played all manner
of mischievous pranks, and passed their days in one merry round
of thoughtless happiness.

During my whole stay on the island I never witnessed a single
quarrel, nor anything that in the slightest degree approached
even to a dispute.  The natives appeared to form one household,
whose members were bound together by the ties of strong
affection.  The love of kindred I did not so much perceive, for
it seemed blended in the general love; and where all were treated
as brothers and sisters, it was hard to tell who were actually
related to each other by blood.

Let it not be supposed that I have overdrawn this picture.  I
have not done so.  Nor let it be urged, that the hostility of
this tribe to foreigners, and the hereditary feuds they carry on
against their fellow-islanders beyond the mountains, are facts
which contradict me.  Not so; these apparent discrepancies are
easily reconciled.  By many a legendary tale of violence and
wrong, as well as by events which have passed before their eyes,
these people have been taught to look upon white men with
abhorrence.  The cruel invasion of their country by Porter has
alone furnished them with ample provocation; and I can sympathize
in the spirit which prompts the Typee warrior to guard all the
passes to his valley with the point of his levelled spear, and,
standing upon the beach, with his back turned upon his green
home, to hold at bay the intruding European.

As to the origin of the enmity of this particular clan towards
the neighbouring tribes, I cannot so confidently speak.  I will
not say that their foes are the aggressors, nor will I endeavour
to palliate their conduct.  But surely, if our evil passions must
find vent, it is far better to expend them on strangers and
aliens, than in the bosom of the community in which we dwell.  In
many polished countries civil contentions, as well as domestic
enmities, are prevalent, and the same time that the most
atrocious foreign wars are waged.  How much less guilty, then,
are our islanders, who of these three sins are only chargeable
with one, and that the least criminal!

The reader will ere long have reason to suspect that the Typees
are not free from the guilt of cannibalism; and he will then,
perhaps, charge me with admiring a people against whom so odious
a crime is chargeable.  But this only enormity in their character
is not half so horrible as it is usually described.  According to
the popular fictions, the crews of vessels, shipwrecked on some
barbarous coast, are eaten alive like so many dainty joints by
the uncivil inhabitants; and unfortunate voyagers are lured into
smiling and treacherous bays; knocked on the head with outlandish
war-clubs; and served up without any prelimary dressing.  In
truth, so horrific and improbable are these accounts, that many
sensible and well-informed people will not believe that any
cannibals exist; and place every book of voyages which purports
to give any account of them, on the same shelf with Blue Beard
and Jack the Giant-Killer.  While others, implicitly crediting
the most extravagant fictions, firmly believe that there are
people in the world with tastes so depraved that they would
infinitely prefer a single mouthful of material humanity to a
good dinner of roast beef and plum pudding.  But here, Truth, who
loves to be centrally located, is again found between the two
extremes; for cannibalism to a certain moderate extent is
practised among several of the primitive tribes in the Pacific,
but it is upon the bodies of slain enemies alone, and horrible
and fearful as the custom is, immeasurably as it is to be
abhorred and condemned, still I assert that those who indulge in
it are in other respects humane and virtuous.



CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

FISHING PARTIES--MODE OF DISTRIBUTING THE FISH--MIDNIGHT
BANQUET--TIME-KEEPING TAPERS--UNCEREMONIOUS STYLE OF EATING THE
FISH

THERE was no instance in which the social and kindly dispositions
of the Typees were more forcibly evinced than in the manner the
conducted their great fishing parties.  Four times during my stay
in the valley the young men assembled near the full of the moon,
and went together on these excursions.  As they were generally
absent about forty-eight hours, I was led to believe that they
went out towards the open sea, some distance from the bay.  The
Polynesians seldom use a hook and line, almost always employing
large well-made nets, most ingeniously fabricated from the
twisted fibres of a certain bark.  I examined several of them
which had been spread to dry upon the beach at Nukuheva.  They
resemble very much our own seines, and I should think they were
nearly as durable.

All the South Sea Islanders are passionately fond of fish; but
none of them can be more so than the inhabitants of Typee.  I
could not comprehend, therefore, why they so seldom sought it in
their waters, for it was only at stated times that the fishing
parties were formed, and these occasions were always looked
forward to with no small degree of interest.

During their absence the whole population of the place were in a
ferment, and nothing was talked of but 'pehee, pehee' (fish,
fish).  Towards the time when they were expected to return the
vocal telegraph was put into operation--the inhabitants, who were
scattered throughout the length of the valley, leaped upon rocks
and into trees, shouting with delight at the thoughts of the
anticipated treat.  As soon as the approach of the party was
announced, there was a general rush of the men towards the beach;
some of them remaining, however, about the Ti in order to get
matters in readiness for the reception of the fish, which were
brought to the Taboo Groves in immense packages of leaves, each
one of them being suspended from a pole carried on the shoulders
of two men.

I was present at the Ti on one of these occasions, and the sight
was most interesting.  After all the packages had arrived, they
were laid in a row under the verandah of the building and opened.

The fish were all quite small, generally about the size of a
herring, and of every variety.  About one-eighth of the whole
being reserved for the use of the Ti itself, the remainder was
divided into numerous smaller packages, which were immediately
dispatched in every direction to the remotest parts of the
valley.  Arrived at their destination, these were in turn
portioned out, and equally distributed among the various houses
of each particular district.  The fish were under a strict Taboo,
until the distribution was completed, which seemed to be effected
in the most impartial manner.  By the operation of this system
every man, woman, and child in the vale, were at one and the same
time partaking of this favourite article of food.

Once I remember the party arrived at midnight; but the
unseasonableness of the tour did not repress the impatience of
the islanders.  The carriers dispatched from the Ti were to be
seen hurrying in all directions through the deep groves; each
individual preceded by a boy bearing a flaming torch of dried
cocoanut boughs, which from time to time was replenished from the
materials scattered along the path.  The wild glare of these
enormous flambeaux, lighting up with a startling brilliancy the
innermost recesses of the vale, and seen moving rapidly along
beneath the canopy of leaves, the savage shout of the excited
messengers sounding the news of their approach, which was
answered on all sides, and the strange appearance of their naked
bodies, seen against the gloomy background, produced altogether
an effect upon my mind that I shall long remember.

It was on this same occasion that Kory-Kory awakened me at the
dead hour of night, and in a sort of transport communicated the
intelligence contained in the words 'pehee perni' (fish come).  
As I happened to have been in a remarkably sound and refreshing
slumber, I could not imagine why the information had not been
deferred until morning, indeed, I felt very much inclined to fly
into a passion and box my valet's ears; but on second thoughts I
got quietly up, and on going outside the house was not a little
interested by the moving illumination which I beheld.

When old Marheyo received his share of the spoils, immediate
preparations were made for a midnight banquet; calabashes of
poee-poee were filled to the brim; green bread-fruit were
roasted; and a huge cake of 'amar' was cut up with a sliver of
bamboo and laid out on an immense banana-leaf.

At this supper we were lighted by several of the native tapers,
held in the hands of young girls.  These tapers are most
ingeniously made.  There is a nut abounding in the valley, called
by the Typees 'armor', closely resembling our common
horse-chestnut.  The shell is broken, and the contents extracted
whole.  Any number of these are strung at pleasure upon the long
elastic fibre that traverses the branches of the cocoanut tree.  
Some of these tapers are eight or ten feet in length; but being
perfectly flexible, one end is held in a coil, while the other is
lighted.  The nut burns with a fitful bluish flame, and the oil
that it contains is exhausted in about ten minutes.  As one burns
down, the next becomes ignited, and the ashes of the former are
knocked into a cocoanut shell kept for the purpose.  This
primitive candle requires continual attention, and must be
constantly held in the hand.  The person so employed marks the
lapse of time by the number of nuts consumed, which is easily
learned by counting the bits of tappa distributed at regular
intervals along the string.

I grieve to state so distressing a fact, but the inhabitants of
Typee were in the habit of devouring fish much in the same way
that a civilized being would eat a radish, and without any more
previous preparation.  They eat it raw; scales, bones, gills, and
all the inside.  The fish is held by the tail, and the head being
introduced into the mouth, the animal disappears with a rapidity
that would at first nearly lead one to imagine it had been
launched bodily down the throat.

Raw fish!  Shall I ever forget my sensations when I first saw my
island beauty devour one.  Oh, heavens!  Fayaway, how could you
ever have contracted so vile a habit?  However, after the first
shock had subsided, the custom grew less odious in my eyes, and I
soon accustomed myself to the sight.  Let no one imagine,
however, that the lovely Fayaway was in the habit of swallowing
great vulgar-looking fishes: oh, no; with her beautiful small
hand she would clasp a delicate, little, golden-hued love of a
fish and eat it as elegantly and as innocently as though it were
a Naples biscuit.  But alas!  it was after all a raw fish; and
all I can say is, that Fayaway ate it in a more ladylike manner
than any other girl of the valley.

When at Rome do as the Romans do, I held to be so good a proverb,
that being in Typee I made a point of doing as the Typees did.  
Thus I ate poee-poee as they did; I walked about in a garb
striking for its simplicity; and I reposed on a community of
couches; besides doing many other things in conformity with their
peculiar habits; but the farthest I ever went in the way of
conformity, was on several occasions to regale myself with raw
fish.  These being remarkably tender, and quite small, the
undertaking was not so disagreeable in the main, and after a few
trials I positively began to relish them; however, I subjected
them to a slight operation with a knife previously to making my
repast.



CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE VALLEY--GOLDEN LIZARDS--TAMENESS OF THE
BIRDS--MOSQUITOES--FLIES--DOGS--A SOLITARY CAT--THE CLIMATE--THE
COCOANUT TREE--SINGULAR MODES OF CLIMBING IT--AN AGILE YOUNG
CHIEF--FEARLESSNESS OF THE CHILDREN--TOO-TOO AND THE COCOANUT
TREE--THE BIRDS OF THE VALLEY

I THINK I must enlighten the reader a little about the natural
history of the valley.

Whence, in the name of Count Buffon and Baron Cuvier, came those
dogs that I saw in Typee?  Dogs!--Big hairless rats rather; all
with smooth, shining speckled hides--fat sides, and very
disagreeable faces.  Whence could they have come?  That they were
not the indigenous production of the region, I am firmly
convinced.  Indeed they seemed aware of their being interlopers,
looking fairly ashamed, and always trying to hide themselves in
some dark corner.  It was plain enough they did not feel at home
in the vale--that they wished themselves well out of it, and back
to the ugly country from which they must have come.

Scurvy curs!  they were my abhorrence; I should have liked
nothing better than to have been the death of every one of them. 
In fact, on one occasion, I intimated the propriety of a canine
crusade to Mehevi; but the benevolent king would not consent to
it.  He heard me very patiently; but when I had finished, shook
his head, and told me in confidence that they were 'taboo'.

As for the animal that made the fortune of the ex-lord-mayor
Whittington, I shall never forget the day that I was lying in the
house about noon, everybody else being fast asleep; and happening
to raise my eyes, met those of a big black spectral cat, which
sat erect in the doorway, looking at me with its frightful
goggling green orbs, like one of those monstrous imps that
torment some of Teniers' saints!  I am one of those unfortunate
persons to whom the sight of these animals are, at any time an
insufferable annoyance.

Thus constitutionally averse to cats in general, the unexpected
apparition of this one in particular utterly confounded me.  When
I had a little recovered from the fascination of its glance, I
started up; the cat fled, and emboldened by this, I rushed out of
the house in pursuit; but it had disappeared.  It was the only
time I ever saw one in the valley, and how it got there I cannot
imagine.  It is just possible that it might have escaped from one
of the ships at Nukuheva.  It was in vain to seek information on
the subject from the natives, since none of them had seen the
animal, the appearance of which remains a mystery to me to this
day.

Among the few animals which are to be met with in Typee, there
was none which I looked upon with more interest than a beautiful
golden-hued species of lizard.  It measured perhaps five inches
from head to tail, and was most gracefully proportioned.  Numbers
of those creatures were to be seen basking in the sunshine upon
the thatching of the houses, and multitudes at all hours of the
day showed their glittering sides as they ran frolicking between
the spears of grass or raced in troops up and down the tall
shafts of the cocoanut trees.  But the remarkable beauty of these
little animals and their lively ways were not their only claims
upon my admiration.  They were perfectly tame and insensible to
fear.  Frequently, after seating myself upon the ground in some
shady place during the heat of the day, I would be completely
overrun with them.  If I brushed one off my arm, it would leap
perhaps into my hair: when I tried to frighten it away by gently
pinching its leg, it would turn for protection to the very hand
that attacked it.

The birds are also remarkably tame.  If you happened to see one
perched upon a branch within reach of your arm, and advanced
towards it, it did not fly away immediately, but waited quietly
looking at you, until you could almost touch it, and then took
wing slowly, less alarmed at your presence, it would seem, than
desirous of removing itself from your path.  Had salt been less
scarce in the valley than it was, this was the very place to have
gone birding with it.  I remember that once, on an uninhabited
island of the Gallipagos, a bird alighted on my outstretched arm,
while its mate chirped from an adjoining tree.  Its tameness, far
from shocking me, as a similar occurrence did Selkirk, imparted
to me the most exquisite thrill of delight I ever experienced,
and with somewhat of the same pleasure did I afterwards behold
the birds and lizards of the valley show their confidence in the
kindliness of man.

Among the numerous afflictions which the Europeans have entailed
upon some of the natives of the South Seas, is the accidental
introduction among them of that enemy of all repose and ruffler
of even tempers--the Mosquito.  At the Sandwich Islands and at
two or three of the Society group, there are now thriving
colonies of these insects, who promise ere long to supplant
altogether the aboriginal sand-flies.  They sting, buzz, and
torment, from one end of the year to the other, and by
incessantly exasperating the natives materially obstruct the
benevolent labours of the missionaries.

From this grievous visitation, however the Typees are as yet
wholly exempt; but its place is unfortunately in some degree
supplied by the occasional presence of a minute species of fly,
which, without stinging, is nevertheless productive of no little
annoyance.  The tameness of the birds and lizards is as nothing
when compared to the fearless confidence of this insect.  He will
perch upon one of your eye-lashes, and go to roost there if you
do not disturb him, or force his way through your hair, or along
the cavity of the nostril, till you almost fancy he is resolved
to explore the very brain itself.  On one occasion I was so
inconsiderate as to yawn while a number of them were hovering
around me.  I never repeated the act.  Some half-dozen darted
into the open apartment, and began walking about its ceiling; the
sensation was dreadful.  I involuntarily closed my mouth, and the
poor creatures being enveloped in inner darkness, must in their
consternation have stumbled over my palate, and been precipitated
into the gulf beneath.  At any rate, though I afterwards
charitably held my mouth open for at least five minutes, with a
view of affording egress to the stragglers, none of them ever
availed themselves of the opportunity.

There are no wild animals of any kind on the island unless it be
decided that the natives themselves are such.  The mountains and
the interior present to the eye nothing but silent solitudes,
unbroken by the roar of beasts of prey, and enlivened by few
tokens even of minute animated existence.  There are no venomous
reptiles, and no snakes of any description to be found in any of
the valleys.

In a company of Marquesan natives the weather affords no topic of
conversation.  It can hardly be said to have any vicissitudes.  
The rainy season, it is true, brings frequent showers, but they
are intermitting and refreshing.  When an islander bound on some
expedition rises from his couch in the morning, he is never
solicitous to peep out and see how the sky looks, or ascertain
from what quarter the wind blows.  He is always sure of a 'fine
day', and the promise of a few genial showers he hails with
pleasure.  There is never any of that 'remarkable weather' on the
islands which from time immemorial has been experienced in
America, and still continues to call forth the wondering
conversational exclamations of its elderly citizens.  Nor do
there even occur any of those eccentric meteorological changes
which elsewhere surprise us.  In the valley of Typee ice-creams
would never be rendered less acceptable by sudden frosts, nor
would picnic parties be deferred on account of inauspicious
snowstorms: for there day follows day in one unvarying round of
summer and sunshine, and the whole year is one long tropical
month of June just melting into July.

It is this genial climate which causes the cocoanuts to flourish
as they do.  This invaluable fruit, brought to perfection by the
rich soil of the Marquesas, and home aloft on a stately column
more than a hundred feet from the ground, would seem at first
almost inaccessible to the simple natives.  Indeed the slender,
smooth, and soaring shaft, without a single limb or protuberance
of any kind to assist one in mounting it, presents an obstacle
only to be overcome by the surprising agility and ingenuity of
the islanders.  It might be supposed that their indolence would
lead them patiently to await the period when the ripened nuts,
slowly parting from their stems, fall one by one to the ground.  
This certainly would be the case, were it not that the young
fruit, encased in a soft green husk, with the incipient meat
adhering in a jelly-like pellicle to its sides, and containing a
bumper of the most delicious nectar, is what they chiefly prize.  
They have at least twenty different terms to express as many
progressive stages in the growth of the nut.  Many of them reject
the fruit altogether except at a particular period of its growth,
which, incredible as it may appear, they seemed to me to be able
to ascertain within an hour or two.  Others are still more
capricious in their tastes; and after gathering together a heap
of the nuts of all ages, and ingeniously tapping them, will first
sip from one and then from another, as fastidiously as some
delicate wine-bibber experimenting glass in hand among his dusty
demi-johns of different vintages.

Some of the young men, with more flexible frames than their
comrades, and perhaps with more courageous souls, bad a way of
walking up the trunk of the cocoanut trees which to me seemed
little less than miraculous; and when looking at them in the act,
I experienced that curious perplexity a child feels when he
beholds a fly moving feet uppermost along a ceiling.

I will endeavour to describe the way in which Narnee, a noble
young chief, sometimes performed this feat for my peculiar
gratification; but his preliminary performances must also be
recorded.  Upon my signifying my desire that he should pluck me
the young fruit of some particular tree, the handsome savage,
throwing himself into a sudden attitude of surprise, feigns
astonishment at the apparent absurdity of the request.  
Maintaining this position for a moment, the strange emotions
depicted on his countenance soften down into one of humorous
resignation to my will, and then looking wistfully up to the
tufted top of the tree, he stands on tip-toe, straining his neck
and elevating his arm, as though endeavouring to reach the fruit
from the ground where he stands.  As if defeated in this childish
attempt, he now sinks to the earth despondingly, beating his
breast in well-acted despair; and then, starting to his feet all
at once, and throwing back his head, raises both hands, like a
school-boy about to catch a falling ball.  After continuing this
for a moment or two, as if in expectation that the fruit was
going to be tossed down to him by some good spirit in the
tree-top, he turns wildly round in another fit of despair, and
scampers off to the distance of thirty or forty yards.  Here he
remains awhile, eyeing the tree, the very picture of misery; but
the next moment, receiving, as it were, a flash of inspiration,
he rushes again towards it, and clasping both arms about the
trunk, with one elevated a little above the other, he presses the
soles of his feet close together against the tree, extending his
legs from it until they are nearly horizontal, and his body
becomes doubled into an arch; then, hand over hand and foot over
foot, he rises from the earth with steady rapidity, and almost
before you are aware of it, has gained the cradled and embowered
nest of nuts, and with boisterous glee flings the fruit to the
ground.

This mode of walking the tree is only practicable where the trunk
declines considerably from the perpendicular.  This, however, is
almost always the case; some of the perfectly straight shafts of
the trees leaning at an angle of thirty degrees.

The less active among the men, and many of the children of the
valley have another method of climbing.  They take a broad and
stout piece of bark, and secure each end of it to their ankles,
so that when the feet thus confined are extended apart, a space
of little more than twelve inches is left between them.  This
contrivance greatly facilitates the act of climbing.  The band
pressed against the tree, and closely embracing it, yields a
pretty firm support; while with the arms clasped about the trunk,
and at regular intervals sustaining the body, the feet are drawn
up nearly a yard at a time, and a corresponding elevation of the
hands immediately succeeds.  In this way I have seen little
children, scarcely five years of age, fearlessly climbing the
slender pole of a young cocoanut tree, and while hanging perhaps
fifty feet from the ground, receiving the plaudits of their
parents beneath, who clapped their hands, and encouraged them to
mount still higher.

What, thought I, on first witnessing one of these exhibitions,
would the nervous mothers of America and England say to a similar
display of hardihood in any of their children?  The Lacedemonian
nation might have approved of it, but most modern dames would
have gone into hysterics at the sight.

At the top of the cocoanut tree the numerous branches, radiating
on all sides from a common centre, form a sort of green and
waving basket, between the leaflets of which you just discern the
nuts thickly clustering together, and on the loftier trees
looking no bigger from the ground than bunches of grapes.  I
remember one adventurous little fellow--Too-Too was the rascal's
name--who had built himself a sort of aerial baby-house in the
picturesque tuft of a tree adjoining Marheyo's habitation.  He
used to spend hours there,--rustling among the branches, and
shouting with delight every time the strong gusts of wind rushing
down from the mountain side, swayed to and fro the tall and
flexible column on which he was perched.  Whenever I heard
Too-Too's musical voice sounding strangely to the ear from so
great a height, and beheld him peeping down upon me from out his
leafy covert, he always recalled to my mind Dibdin's lines--  

'There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,  To look out
for the life of poor Jack.'

Birds--bright and beautiful birds--fly over the valley of Typee.  
You see them perched aloft among the immovable boughs of the
majestic bread-fruit trees, or gently swaying on the elastic
branches of the Omoo; skimming over the palmetto thatching of the
bamboo huts; passing like spirits on the wing through the shadows
of the grove, and sometimes descending into the bosom of the
valley in gleaming flights from the mountains.  Their plumage is
purple and azure, crimson and white, black and gold; with bills
of every tint: bright bloody red, jet black, and ivory white, and
their eyes are bright and sparkling; they go sailing through the
air in starry throngs; but, alas!  the spell of dumbness is upon
them all--there is not a single warbler in the valley!

I know not why it was, but the sight of these birds, generally
the ministers of gladness, always oppressed me with melancholy.  
As in their dumb beauty they hovered by me whilst I was walking,
or looked down upon me with steady curious eyes from out the
foliage, I was almost inclined to fancy that they knew they were
gazing upon a stranger, and that they commiserated his fate.



CHAPTER THIRTY

A PROFESSOR OF THE FINE ARTS--HIS PERSECUTIONS--SOMETHING ABOUT
TATTOOING AND TABOOING--TWO ANECDOTES IN ILLUSTRATION OF THE
LATTER--A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE TYPEE DIALECT

IN one of my strolls with Kory-Kory, in passing along the border
of a thick growth of bushes, my attention was arrested by a
singular noise.  On entering the thicket I witnessed for the
first time the operation of tattooing as performed by these
islanders.

I beheld a man extended flat upon his back on the ground, and,
despite the forced composure of his countenance, it was evident
that he was suffering agony.  His tormentor bent over him,
working away for all the world like a stone-cutter with mallet
and chisel.  In one hand he held a short slender stick, pointed
with a shark's tooth, on the upright end of which he tapped with
a small hammer-like piece of wood, thus puncturing the skin, and
charging it with the colouring matter in which the instrument was
dipped.  A cocoanut shell containing this fluid was placed upon
the ground.  It is prepared by mixing with a vegetable juice the
ashes of the 'armor', or candle-nut, always preserved for the
purpose.  Beside the savage, and spread out upon a piece of
soiled tappa, were a great number of curious black-looking little
implements of bone and wood, used in the various divisions of his
art.  A few terminated in a single fine point, and, like very
delicate pencils, were employed in giving the finishing touches,
or in operating upon the more sensitive portions of the body, as
was the case in the present instance.  Others presented several
points distributed in a line, somewhat resembling the teeth of a
saw.  These were employed in the coarser parts of the work, and
particularly in pricking in straight marks.  Some presented their
points disposed in small figures, and being placed upon the body,
were, by a single blow of the hammer, made to leave their
indelible impression.  I observed a few the handles of which were
mysteriously curved, as if intended to be introduced into the
orifice of the ear, with a view perhaps of beating the tattoo
upon the tympanum.  Altogether the sight of these strange
instruments recalled to mind that display of cruel-looking
mother-of-pearl-handled things which one sees in their
velvet-lined cases at the elbow of a dentist.

The artist was not at this time engaged on an original sketch,
his subject being a venerable savage, whose tattooing had become
somewhat faded with age and needed a few repairs, and accordingly
he was merely employed in touching up the works of some of the
old masters of the Typee school, as delineated upon the human
canvas before him.  The parts operated upon were the eyelids,
where a longitudinal streak, like the one which adorned
Kory-Kory, crossed the countenance of the victim.

In spite of all the efforts of the poor old man, sundry
twitchings and screwings of the muscles of the face denoted the
exquisite sensibility of these shutters to the windows of his
soul, which he was now having repainted.  But the artist, with a
heart as callous as that of an army surgeon, continued his
performance, enlivening his labours with a wild chant, tapping
away the while as merrily as a woodpecker.

So deeply engaged was he in his work, that he had not observed
our approach, until, after having, enjoyed an unmolested view of
the operation, I chose to attract his attention.  As soon as he
perceived me, supposing that I sought him in his professional
capacity, he seized hold of me in a paroxysm of delight, and was
an eagerness to begin the work.  When, however, I gave him to
understand that he had altogether mistaken my views, nothing
could exceed his grief and disappointment.  But recovering from
this, he seemed determined not to discredit my assertion, and
grasping his implements, he flourished them about in fearful
vicinity to my face, going through an imaginary performance of
his art, and every moment bursting into some admiring exclamation
at the beauty of his designs.

Horrified at the bare thought of being rendered hideous for life
if the wretch were to execute his purpose upon me, I struggled to
get away from him, while Kory-Kory, turning traitor, stood by,
and besought me to comply with the outrageous request.  On my
reiterated refusals the excited artist got half beside himself,
and was overwhelmed with sorrow at losing so noble an opportunity
of distinguishing himself in his profession.

The idea of engrafting his tattooing upon my white skin filled
him with all a painter's enthusiasm; again and again he gazed
into my countenance, and every fresh glimpse seemed to add to the
vehemence of his ambition.  Not knowing to what extremities he
might proceed, and shuddering at the ruin he might inflict upon
my figure-head, I now endeavoured to draw off his attention from
it, and holding out my arm in a fit of desperation, signed to him
to commence operations.  But he rejected the compromise
indignantly, and still continued his attack on my face, as though
nothing short of that would satisfy him.  When his forefinger
swept across my features, in laying out the borders of those
parallel bands which were to encircle my countenance, the flesh
fairly crawled upon my bones.  At last, half wild with terror and
indignation, I succeeded in breaking away from the three savages,
and fled towards old Marheyo's house, pursued by the indomitable
artist, who ran after me, implements in hand.  Kory-Kory,
however, at last interfered and drew him off from the chase.

This incident opened my eyes to a new danger; and I now felt
convinced that in some luckless hour I should be disfigured in
such a manner as never more to have the FACE to return to my
countrymen, even should an opportunity offer.

These apprehensions were greatly increased by the desire which
King Mehevi and several of the inferior chiefs now manifested
that I should be tattooed.  The pleasure of the king was first
signified to me some three days after my casual encounter with
Karky the artist.  Heavens!  what imprecations I showered upon
that Karky.  Doubtless he had plotted a conspiracy against me and
my countenance, and would never rest until his diabolical purpose
was accomplished.  Several times I met him in various parts of
the valley, and, invariably, whenever he descried me, he came
running after me with his mallet and chisel, flourishing them
about my face as if he longed to begin.  What an object he would
have made of me!

When the king first expressed his wish to me, I made known to him
my utter abhorrence of the measure, and worked myself into such a
state of excitement, that he absolutely stared at me in
amazement.  It evidently surpassed his majesty's comprehension
how any sober-minded and sensible individual could entertain the
least possible objection to so beautifying an operation.

Soon afterwards he repeated his suggestion, and meeting with a
little repulse, showed some symptoms of displeasure at my
obduracy.  On his a third time renewing his request, I plainly
perceived that something must be done, or my visage was ruined
for ever; I therefore screwed up my courage to the sticking
point, and declared my willingness to have both arms tattooed
from just above the wrist to the shoulder.  His majesty was
greatly pleased at the proposition, and I was congratulating
myself with having thus compromised the matter, when he intimated
that as a thing of course my face was first to undergo the
operation.  I was fairly driven to despair; nothing but the utter
ruin of my 'face divine', as the poets call it, would, I
perceived, satisfy the inexorable Mehevi and his chiefs, or
rather, that infernal Karky, for he was at the bottom of it all.

The only consolation afforded me was a choice of patterns: I was
at perfect liberty to have my face spanned by three horizontal
bars, after the fashion of my serving-man's; or to have as many
oblique stripes slanting across it; or if, like a true courtier,
I chose to model my style on that of royalty, I might wear a sort
of freemason badge upon my countenance in the shape of a mystic
triangle.  However, I would have none of these, though the king
most earnestly impressed upon my mind that my choice was wholly
unrestricted.  At last, seeing my unconquerable repugnance, he
ceased to importune me.

But not so some other of the savages.  Hardly a day passed but I
was subjected to their annoying requests, until at last my
existence became a burden to me; the pleasures I had previously
enjoyed no longer afforded me delight, and all my former desire
to escape from the valley now revived with additional force.

A fact which I soon afterwards learned augmented my apprehension.
The whole system of tattooing was, I found, connected with their
religion; and it was evident, therefore, that they were resolved
to make a convert of me.

In the decoration of the chiefs it seems to be necessary to
exercise the most elaborate pencilling; while some of the
inferior natives looked as if they had been daubed over
indiscriminately with a house-painter's brush.  I remember one
fellow who prided himself hugely upon a great oblong patch,
placed high upon his back, and who always reminded me of a man
with a blister of Spanish flies, stuck between his shoulders.  
Another whom I frequently met had the hollow of his eyes tattooed
in two regular squares and his visual organs being remarkably
brilliant, they gleamed forth from out this setting like a couple
of diamonds inserted in ebony.

Although convinced that tattooing was a religious observance,
still the nature of the connection between it and the
superstitious idolatry of the people was a point upon which I
could never obtain any information.  Like the still more
important system of the 'Taboo', it always appeared inexplicable
to me.

There is a marked similarity, almost an identity, between the
religious institutions of most of the Polynesian islands, and in
all exists the mysterious 'Taboo', restricted in its uses to a
greater or less extent.  So strange and complex in its
arrangements is this remarkable system, that I have in several
cases met with individuals who, after residing for years among
the islands in the Pacific, and acquiring a considerable
knowledge of the language, have nevertheless been altogether
unable to give any satisfactory account of its operations.  
Situated as I was in the Typee valley, I perceived every hour the
effects of this all-controlling power, without in the least
comprehending it.  Those effects were, indeed, wide-spread and
universal, pervading the most important as well as the minutest
transactions of life.  The savage, in short, lives in the
continual observance of its dictates, which guide and control
every action of his being.

For several days after entering the valley I had been saluted at
least fifty times in the twenty-four hours with the talismanic
word 'Taboo' shrieked in my ears, at some gross violation of its
provisions, of which I had unconsciously been guilty.  The day
after our arrival I happened to hand some tobacco to Toby over
the head of a native who sat between us.  He started up, as if
stung by an adder; while the whole company, manifesting an equal
degree of horror, simultaneously screamed out 'Taboo!'  I never
again perpetrated a similar piece of ill-manners, which, indeed,
was forbidden by the canons of good breeding, as well as by the
mandates of the taboo.  But it was not always so easy to perceive
wherein you had contravened the spirit of this institution.  I
was many times called to order, if I may use the phrase, when I
could not for the life of me conjecture what particular offence I
had committed.

One day I was strolling through a secluded portion of the valley,
and hearing the musical sound of the cloth-mallet at a little
distance, I turned down a path that conducted me in a few moments
to a house where there were some half-dozen girls employed in
making tappa.  This was an operation I had frequently witnessed,
and had handled the bark in all the various stages of its
preparation.  On the present occasion the females were intent
upon their occupation, and after looking up and talking gaily to
me for a few moments, they resumed their employment.  I regarded
them for a while in silence, and then carelessly picking up a
handful of the material that lay around, proceeded unconsciously
to pick it apart.  While thus engaged, I was suddenly startled by
a scream, like that of a whole boarding-school of young ladies
just on the point of going into hysterics.  Leaping up with the
idea of seeing a score of Happar warriors about to perform anew
the Sabine atrocity, I found myself confronted by the company of
girls, who, having dropped their work, stood before me with
starting eyes, swelling bosoms, and fingers pointed in horror
towards me.

Thinking that some venomous reptile must be concealed in the bark
which I held in my hand, I began cautiously to separate and
examine it.  Whilst I did so the horrified girls re-doubled their
shrieks.  Their wild cries and frightened motions actually
alarmed me, and throwing down the tappa, I was about to rush from
the house, when in the same instant their clamours ceased, and
one of them, seizing me by the arm, pointed to the broken fibres
that had just fallen from my grasp, and screamed in my ears the
fatal word Taboo!

I subsequently found out that the fabric they were engaged in
making was of a peculiar kind, destined to be worn on the heads
of the females, and through every stage of its manufacture was
guarded by a rigorous taboo, which interdicted the whole
masculine gender from even so much as touching it.

Frequently in walking through the groves I observed bread-fruit
and cocoanut trees, with a wreath of leaves twined in a peculiar
fashion about their trunks.  This was the mark of the taboo.  The
trees themselves, their fruit, and even the shadows they cast
upon the ground, were consecrated by its presence.  In the same
way a pipe, which the king had bestowed upon me, was rendered
sacred in the eyes of the natives, none of whom could I ever
prevail upon to smoke from it.  The bowl was encircled by a woven
band of grass, somewhat resembling those Turks' heads
occasionally worked in the handles of our whip-stalks,

A similar badge was once braided about my wrist by the royal hand
of Mehevi himself, who, as soon as he had concluded the
operation, pronounced me 'Taboo'.  This occurred shortly after
Toby's disappearance; and, were it not that from the first moment
I had entered the valley the natives had treated me with uniform
kindness, I should have supposed that their conduct afterwards
was to be ascribed to the fact that I had received this sacred
investiture.

The capricious, operations of the taboo are not its least
remarkable feature: to enumerate them all would be impossible.  
Black hogs--infants to a certain age--women in an interesting
situation--young men while the operation of tattooing their faces
is going on--and certain parts of the valley during the
continuance of a shower--are alike fenced about by the operation
of the taboo.

I witnessed a striking instance of its effects in the bay of
Tior, my visit to which place has been alluded to in a former
part of this narrative.  On that occasion our worthy captain
formed one of the party.  He was a most insatiable sportsman.  
Outward bound, and off the pitch of Cape Horn, he used to sit on
the taffrail, and keep the steward loading three or four old
fowling pieces, with which he would bring down albatrosses, Cape
pigeons, jays, petrels, and divers other marine fowl, who
followed chattering in our wake.  The sailors were struck aghast
at his impiety, and one and all attributed our forty days'
beating about that horrid headland to his sacrilegious slaughter
of these inoffensive birds.

At Tior he evinced the same disregard for the religious
prejudices of the islanders, as he had previously shown for the
superstitions of the sailors.  Having heard that there were a
considerable number of fowls in the valley the progeny of some
cocks and hens accidentally left there by an English vessel, and
which, being strictly tabooed, flew about almost in a wild
state--he determined to break through all restraints, and be the
death of them.  Accordingly, he provided himself with a most
formidable looking gun, and announced his landing on the beach by
shooting down a noble cock that was crowing what proved to be his
own funeral dirge, on the limb of an adjoining tree.  'Taboo',
shrieked the affrighted savages.  'Oh, hang your taboo,' says the
nautical sportsman; 'talk taboo to the marines'; and bang went
the piece again, and down came another victim.  At this the
natives ran scampering through the groves, horror-struck at the
enormity of the act.

All that afternoon the rocky sides of the valley rang with
successive reports, and the superb plumage of many a beautiful
fowl was ruffled by the fatal bullet.  Had it not been that the
French admiral, with a large party, was then in the glen, I have
no doubt that the natives, although their tribe was small and
dispirited, would have inflicted summary vengeance upon the man
who thus outraged their most sacred institutions; as it was, they
contrived to annoy him not a little.

Thirsting with his exertions, the skipper directed his steps to a
stream; but the savages, who had followed at a little distance,
perceiving his object, rushed towards him and forced him away
from its bank--his lips would have polluted it.  Wearied at last,
he sought to enter a house that he might rest for a while on the
mats; its inmates gathered tumultuously about the door and denied
him admittance.  He coaxed and blustered by turns, but in vain;
the natives were neither to be intimidated nor appeased, and as a
final resort he was obliged to call together his boat's crew, and
pull away from what he termed the most infernal place he ever
stepped upon.

Lucky was it for him and for us that we were not honoured on our
departure by a salute of stones from the hands of the exasperated
Tiors.  In this way, on the neighbouring island of Ropo, were
killed, but a few weeks previously, and for a nearly similar
offence, the master and three of the crew of the K---.

I cannot determine with anything approaching to certainty, what
power it is that imposes the taboo.  When I consider the slight
disparity of condition among the islanders--the very limited and
inconsiderable prerogatives of the king and chiefs--and the loose
and indefinite functions of the priesthood, most of whom were
hardly to be distinguished from the rest of their countrymen, I
am wholly at a loss where to look for the authority which
regulates this potent institution.  It is imposed upon something
today, and withdrawn tomorrow; while its operations in other
cases are perpetual.  Sometimes its restrictions only affect a
single individual--sometimes a particular family--sometimes a
whole tribe; and in a few instances they extend not merely over
the various clans on a single island, but over all the
inhabitants of an entire group.  In illustration of this latter
peculiarity, I may cite the law which forbids a female to enter a
canoe--a prohibition which prevails upon all the northern
Marquesas Islands.

The word itself (taboo) is used in more than one signification.  
It is sometimes used by a parent to his child, when in the
exercise of parental authority he forbids it to perform a
particular action.  Anything opposed to the ordinary customs of
the islanders, although not expressly prohibited, is said to be
'taboo'.

The Typee language is one very difficult to be acquired; it bears
a close resemblance to the other Polynesian dialects, all of
which show a common origin.  The duplication of words, as 'lumee
lumee', 'poee poee', 'muee muee', is one of their peculiar
features.  But another, and a more annoying one, is the different
senses in which one and the same word is employed; its various
meanings all have a certain connection, which only makes the
matter more puzzling.  So one brisk, lively little word is
obliged, like a servant in a poor family, to perform all sorts of
duties; for instance, one particular combination of syllables
expresses the ideas of sleep, rest, reclining, sitting, leaning,
and all other things anywise analogous thereto, the particular
meaning being shown chiefly by a variety of gestures and the
eloquent expression of the countenance.

The intricacy of these dialects is another peculiarity.  In the
Missionary College at Lahainaluna, on Mowee, one of the Sandwich
Islands, I saw a tabular exhibition of a Hawiian verb, conjugated
through all its moods and tenses.  It covered the side of a
considerable apartment, and I doubt whether Sir William Jones
himself would not have despaired of mastering it.



CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

STRANGE CUSTOM OF THE ISLANDERS--THEIR CHANTING, AND THE
PECULIARITY OF THEIR VOICE--RAPTURE OF THE KING AT FIRST HEARING
A SONG--A NEW DIGNITY CONFERRED ON THE AUTHOR--MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS IN THE VALLEY--ADMIRATION OF THE SAVAGES AT BEHOLDING
A PUGILISTIC PERFORMANCE--SWIMMING INFANT--BEAUTIFUL TRESSES OF
THE GIRLS--OINTMENT FOR THE HAIR

SADLY discursive as I have already been, I must still further
entreat the reader's patience, as I am about to string together,
without any attempt at order, a few odds and ends of things not
hitherto mentioned, but which are either curious in themselves or
peculiar to the Typees.

There was one singular custom observed in old Marheyo's domestic
establishment, which often excited my surprise.  Every night,
before retiring, the inmates of the house gathered together on
the mats, and so squatting upon their haunches, after the
universal practice of these islanders, would commence a low,
dismal and monotonous chant, accompanying the voice with the
instrumental melody produced by two small half-rotten sticks
tapped slowly together, a pair of which were held in the hands of
each person present.  Thus would they employ themselves for an
hour or two, sometimes longer.  Lying in the gloom which wrapped
the further end of the house, I could not avoid looking at them,
although the spectacle suggested nothing but unpleasant
reflection.  The flickering rays of the 'armor' nut just served
to reveal their savage lineaments, without dispelling the
darkness that hovered about them.

Sometimes when, after falling into a kind of doze, and awaking
suddenly in the midst of these doleful chantings, my eye would
fall upon the wild-looking group engaged in their strange
occupation, with their naked tattooed limbs, and shaven heads
disposed in a circle, I was almost tempted to believe that I
gazed upon a set of evil beings in the act of working at a
frightful incantation.

What was the meaning or purpose of this custom, whether it was
practiced merely as a diversion, or whether it was a religious
exercise, a sort of family prayers, I never could discover.

The sounds produced by the natives on these occasions were of a
most singular description; and had I not actually been present, I
never would have believed that such curious noises could have
been produced by human beings.

To savages generally is imputed a guttural articulation.  This
however, is not always the case, especially among the inhabitants
of the Polynesian Archipelago.  The labial melody with which the
Typee girls carry on an ordinary conversation, giving a musical
prolongation to the final syllable of every sentence, and
chirping out some of the words with a liquid, bird-like accent,
was singularly pleasing.

The men however, are not quite so harmonious in their utterance,
and when excited upon any subject, would work themselves up into
a sort of wordy paroxysm, during which all descriptions of
rough-sided sounds were projected from their mouths, with a force
and rapidity which was absolutely astonishing.

       .  .  .  .  .   .   .   .

Although these savages are remarkably fond of chanting, still
they appear to have no idea whatever of singing, at least as the
art is practised in other nations.

I shall never forget the first time I happened to roar out a
stave in the presence of noble Mehevi.  It was a stanza from the
'Bavarian broom-seller'.  His Typeean majesty, with all his
court, gazed upon me in amazement, as if I had displayed some
preternatural faculty which Heaven had denied to them.  The King
was delighted with the verse; but the chorus fairly transported
him.  At his solicitation I sang it again and again, and nothing
could be more ludicrous than his vain attempts to catch the air
and the words.  The royal savage seemed to think that by screwing
all the features of his face into the end of his nose he might
possibly succeed in the undertaking, but it failed to answer the
purpose; and in the end he gave it up, and consoled himself by
listening to my repetition of the sounds fifty times over.

Previous to Mehevi's making the discovery, I had never been aware
that there was anything of the nightingale about me; but I was
now promoted to the place of court-minstrel, in which capacity I
was afterwards perpetually called upon to officiate.

       .  .  .  .  .   .   .   .

Besides the sticks and the drums, there are no other musical
instruments among the Typees, except one which might
appropriately be denominated a nasal flute.  It is somewhat
longer than an ordinary fife; is made of a beautiful
scarlet-coloured reed; and has four or five stops, with a large
hole near one end, which latter is held just beneath the left
nostril.  The other nostril being closed by a peculiar movement
of the muscles about the nose, the breath is forced into the
tube, and produces a soft dulcet sound which is varied by the
fingers running at random over the stops.  This is a favourite
recreation with the females and one in which Fayaway greatly
excelled.  Awkward as such an instrument may appear, it was, in
Fayaway's delicate little hands, one of the most graceful I have
ever seen.  A young lady, in the act of tormenting a guitar
strung about her neck by a couple of yards of blue ribbon, is not
half so engaging.  

       .  .  .  .  .   .   .   .

Singing was not the only means I possessed of diverting the royal
Mehevi and his easy-going subject.  Nothing afforded them more
pleasure than to see me go through the attitude of pugilistic
encounter.  As not one of the natives had soul enough in him to
stand up like a man, and allow me to hammer away at him, for my
own personal gratification and that of the king, I was
necessitated to fight with an imaginary enemy, whom I invariably
made to knock under to my superior prowess.  Sometimes when this
sorely battered shadow retreated precipitately towards a group of
the savages, and, following him up, I rushed among them dealing
my blows right and left, they would disperse in all directions
much to the enjoyment of Mehevi, the chiefs, and themselves.

The noble art of self-defence appeared to be regarded by them as
the peculiar gift of the white man; and I make little doubt that
they supposed armies of Europeans were drawn up provided with
nothing else but bony fists and stout hearts, with which they set
to in column, and pummelled one another at the word of command.

       .  .  .  .  .   .   .   .

One day, in company with Kory-Kory, I had repaired to the stream
for the purpose of bathing, when I observed a woman sitting upon
a rock in the midst of the current, and watching with the
liveliest interest the gambols of something, which at first I
took to be an uncommonly large species of frog that was sporting
in the water near her.  Attracted by the novelty of the sight, I
waded towards the spot where she sat, and could hardly credit the
evidence of my senses when I beheld a little infant, the period
of whose birth could not have extended back many days, paddling
about as if it had just risen to the surface, after being hatched
into existence at the bottom.  Occasionally, the delighted parent
reached out her hand towards it, when the little thing, uttering
a faint cry, and striking out its tiny limbs, would sidle for the
rock, and the next moment be clasped to its mother's bosom.  This
was repeated again and again, the baby remaining in the stream
about a minute at a time.  Once or twice it made wry faces at
swallowing a mouthful of water, and choked a spluttered as if on
the point of strangling.  At such times however, the mother
snatched it up and by a process scarcely to be mentioned obliged
it to eject the fluid.  For several weeks afterwards I observed
this woman bringing her child down to the stream regularly every
day, in the cool of the morning and evening and treating it to a
bath.  No wonder that the South Sea Islanders are so amphibious a
race, when they are thus launched into the water as soon as they
see the light.  I am convinced that it is as natural for a human
being to swim as it is for a duck.  And yet in civilized
communities how many able-bodied individuals die, like so many
drowning kittens, from the occurrence of the most trivial
accidents!        .  .  .  .  .   .   .   .

The long luxuriant and glossy tresses of the Typee damsels often
attracted my admiration.  A fine head of hair is the pride and
joy of every woman's heart.  Whether against the express will of
Providence, it is twisted upon the crown of the head and there
coiled away like a rope on a ship's deck; whether it be stuck
behind the ears and hangs down like the swag of a small
window-curtain; or whether it be permitted to flow over the
shoulders in natural ringlets, it is always the pride of the
owner, and the glory of the toilette.

The Typee girls devote much of their time to the dressing of
their fair and redundant locks.  After bathing, as they sometimes
do five or six times every day, the hair is carefully dried, and
if they have been in the sea, invariably washed in fresh water,
and anointed with a highly scented oil extracted from the meat of
the cocoanut.  This oil is obtained in great abundance by the
following very simple process:

A large vessel of wood, with holes perforated in the bottom, is
filled with the pounded meat, and exposed to the rays of the sun. 
As the oleaginous matter exudes, it falls in drops through the
apertures into a wide-mouthed calabash placed underneath.   After
a sufficient quantity has thus been collected, the oil undergoes
a purifying process, and is then poured into the small spherical
shells of the nuts of the moo-tree, which are hollowed out to
receive it.  These nuts are then hermetically sealed with a
resinous gum, and the vegetable fragrance of their green rind
soon imparts to the oil a delightful odour.  After the lapse of a
few weeks the exterior shell of the nuts becomes quite dry and
hard, and assumes a beautiful carnation tint; and when opened
they are found to be about two-thirds full of an ointment of a
light yellow colour and diffusing the sweetest perfume.  This
elegant little odorous globe would not be out of place even upon
the toilette of a queen.  Its merits as a prepartion for the hair
are undeniable--it imparts to it a superb gloss and a silky
fineness.



CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

APPREHENSIONS OF EVIL-- FRIGHTFUL DISCOVERY--SOME REMARKS ON
CANNIBALISM--SECOND BATTLE WITH THE HAPPARS--SAVAGE
SPECTACLE--MYSTERIOUS FEAST--SUBSEQUENT DISCLOSURES

FROM the time of my casual encounter with Karky the artist, my
life was one of absolute wretchedness.  Not a day passed but I
was persecuted by the solicitations of some of the natives to
subject myself to the odious operation of tattooing.  Their
importunities drove me half wild, for I felt how easily they
might work their will upon me regarding this or anything else
which they took into their heads.  Still, however, the behaviour
of the islanders towards me was as kind as ever.  Fayaway was
quite as engaging; Kory-Kory as devoted; and Mehevi the king just
as gracious and condescending as before.  But I had now been
three months in their valley, as nearly as I could estimate; I
had grown familiar with the narrow limits to which my wandering
had been confined; and I began bitterly to feel the state of
captivity in which I was held.  There was no one with whom I
could freely converse; no one to whom I could communicate my
thoughts; no one who could sympathize with my sufferings.  A
thousand times I thought how much more endurable would have been
my lot had Toby still been with me.  But I was left alone, and
the thought was terrible to me.  Still, despite my griefs, I did
all in my power to appear composed and cheerful, well knowing
that by manifesting any uneasiness, or any desire to escape, I
should only frustrate my object.

It was during the period I was in this unhappy frame of mind that
the painful malady under which I had been labouring--after having
almost completely subsided--began again to show itself, and with
symptoms as violent as ever.  This added calamity nearly unmanned
me; the recurrence of the complaint proved that without powerful
remedial applications all hope of cure was futile; and when I
reflected that just beyond the elevations, which bound me in, was
the medical relief I needed, and that although so near, it was
impossible for me to avail myself of it, the thought was misery.

In this wretched situation, every circumstance which evinced the
savage nature of the beings at whose mercy I was, augmented the
fearful apprehensions that consumed me.  An occurrence which
happened about this time affected me most powerfully.

I have already mentioned that from the ridge-pole of Marheyo's
house were suspended a number of packages enveloped in tappa.  
Many of these I had often seen in the hands of the natives, and
their contents had been examined in my presence.  But there were
three packages hanging very nearly over the place where I lay,
which from their remarkable appearance had often excited my
curiousity.  Several times I had asked Kory-Kory to show me their
contents, but my servitor, who, in almost every other particular
had acceded to my wishes, refused to gratify me in this.

One day, returning unexpectedly from the 'Ti', my arrival seemed
to throw the inmates of the house into the greatest confusion.  
They were seated together on the mats, and by the lines which
extended from the roof to the floor I immediately perceived that
the mysterious packages were for some purpose or another under
inspection.  The evident alarm the savages betrayed filled me
with forebodings of evil, and with an uncontrollable desire to
penetrate the secret so jealously guarded Despite the efforts of
Marheyo and Kory-Kory to restrain me, I forced my way into the
midst of the circle, and just caught a glimpse of three human
heads, which others of the party were hurriedly enveloping in the
coverings from which they had been taken.

One of the three I distinctly saw.  It was in a state of perfect
preservation, and from the slight glimpse I had of it, seemed to
have been subjected to some smoking operation which had reduced
it to the dry, hard, and mummy-like appearance it presented.  The
two long scalp locks were twisted up into balls upon the crown of
the head in the same way that the individual had worn them during
fife.  The sunken cheeks were rendered yet more ghastly by the
rows of glistening teeth which protruded from between the lips,
while the sockets of the eyes--filled with oval bits of
mother-of-pearl shell, with a black spot in the
centre--heightened the hideousness of its aspect.

Two of the three were heads of the islanders; but the third, to
my horror, was that of a white man.  Although it had been quickly
removed from my sight, still the glimpse I had of it was enough
to convince me that I could not be mistaken.

Gracious God!  what dreadful thoughts entered my head; in solving
this mystery perhaps I had solved another, and the fate of my
lost companion might be revealed in the shocking spectacle I had
just witnessed.  I longed to have torn off the folds of cloth and
satisfied the awful doubts under which I laboured.  But before I
had recovered from the consternation into which I had been
thrown, the fatal packages were hoisted aloft, and once more
swung over my head.  The natives now gathered round me
tumultuously, and laboured to convince me that what I had just
seen were the heads of three Happar warriors, who had been slain
in battle.  This glaring falsehood added to my alarm, and it was
not until I reflected that I had observed the packages swinging
from their elevation before Toby's disappearance, that I could at
all recover my composure.

But although this horrible apprehension had been dispelled, I had
discovered enough to fill me, in my present state of mind, with
the most bitter reflections.  It was plain that I had seen the
last relic of some unfortunate wretch, who must have been
massacred on the beach by the savages, in one of those perilous
trading adventures which I have before described.

It was not, however, alone the murder of the stranger that
overcame me with gloom.  I shuddered at the idea of the
subsequent fate his inanimate body might have met with Was the
same doom reserved for me?  Was I destined to perish like him--
like him perhaps, to be devoured and my head to be preserved as a
fearful memento of the events?  My imagination ran riot in these
horrid speculations, and I felt certain that the worst possible
evils would befall me.  But whatever were my misgivings, I
studiously concealed them from the islanders, as well as the full
extent of the discovery I had made.

Although the assurances which the Typees had often given me, that
they never eat human flesh, had not convinced me that such was
the case, yet, having been so long a time in the valley without
witnessing anything which indicated the existence of the
practice, I began to hope that it was an event of very rare
occurrence, and that I should be spared the horror of witnessing
it during my stay among them: but, alas, these hopes were soon
destroyed.

It is a singular fact, that in all our accounts of cannibal
tribes we have seldom received the testimony of an eye-witness
account to this revolting practice.  The horrible conclusion has
almost always been derived from the second-hand evidence of
Europeans, or else from the admissions of the savages themselves,
after they have in some degree become civilized.  The Polynesians
are aware of the detestation in which Europeans hold this custom,
and therefore invariably deny its existence, and with the craft
peculiar to savages, endeavour to conceal every trace of it.

The excessive unwillingness betrayed by the Sandwich Islanders,
even at the present day, to allude to the unhappy fate of Cook,
has often been remarked.  And so well have they succeeded in
covering the event with mystery, that to this very hour, despite
all that has been said and written on the subject, it still
remains doubtful whether they wreaked upon his murdered body the
vengance they sometimes inflicted upon their enemies.

At Kealakekau, the scene of that tragedy, a strip of ship's
copper nailed against an upright post in the ground used to
inform the traveller that beneath reposed the 'remains' of the
great circumnavigator.  But I am strongly inclined to believe not
only the corpse was refused Christian burial, but that the heart
which was brought to Vancouver some time after the event, and
which the Hawiians stoutly maintained was that of Captain Cook,
was no such thing; and that the whole affair was a piece of
imposture which was sought to be palmed off upon the credulous
Englishman.

A few years since there was living on the island of Maui (one of
the Sandwich group) an old chief, who, actuated by a morbid
desire for notoriety, gave himself out among the foreign
residents of the place as the living tomb of Captain Cook's big
toe!--affirming that at the cannibal entertainment which ensued
after the lamented Briton's death, that particular portion of his
body had fallen to his share.  His indignant countrymen actually
caused him to be prosecuted in the native courts, on a charge
nearly equivalent to what we term defamation of character; but
the old fellow persisting in his assertion, and no invalidating
proof being adduced, the plaintiffs were cast in the suit, and
the cannibal reputation of the defendant firmly established.  
This result was the making of his fortune; ever afterwards he was
in the habit of giving very profitable audiences to all curious
travellers who were desirous of beholding the man who had eaten
the great navigator's great toe.

About a week after my discovery of the contents of the mysterious
packages, I happened to be at the Ti, when another war-alarm was
sounded, and the natives rushing to their arms, sallied out to
resist a second incursion of the Happar invaders.  The same scene
was again repeated, only that on this occasion I heard at least
fifteen reports of muskets from the mountains during the time
that the skirmish lasted.  An hour or two after its termination,
loud paeans chanted through the valley announced the approach of
the victors.  I stood with Kory-Kory leaning against the railing
of the pi-pi awaiting their advance, when a tumultuous crowd of
islanders emerged with wild clamours from the neighbouring
groves.  In the midst of them marched four men, one preceding the
other at regular intervals of eight or ten feet, with poles of a
corresponding length, extending from shoulder to shoulder, to
which were lashed with thongs of bark three long narrow bundles,
carefully wrapped in ample coverings of freshly plucked
palm-leaves, tacked together with slivers of bamboo.  Here and
there upon these green winding-sheets might be seen the stains of
blood, while the warriors who carried the frightful burdens
displayed upon their naked limbs similar sanguinary marks.  The
shaven head of the foremost had a deep gash upon it, and the
clotted gore which had flowed from the wound remained in dry
patches around it.  The savage seemed to be sinking under the
weight he bore.  The bright tattooing upon his body was covered
with blood and dust; his inflamed eyes rolled in their sockets,
and his whole appearance denoted extraordinary suffering and
exertion; yet sustained by some powerful impulse, he continued to
advance, while the throng around him with wild cheers sought to
encourage him.  The other three men were marked about the arms
and breasts with several slight wounds, which they somewhat
ostentatiously displayed.

These four individuals, having been the most active in the late
encounter, claimed the honour of bearing the bodies of their
slain enemies to the Ti.  Such was the conclusion I drew from my
own observations, and, as far as I could understand, from the
explanation which Kory-Kory gave me.

The royal Mehevi walked by the side of these heroes.  He carried
in one hand a musket, from the barrel of which was suspended a
small canvas pouch of powder, and in the other he grasped a short
javelin, which he held before him and regarded with fierce
exultation.  This javelin he had wrested from a celebrated
champion of the Happars, who had ignominiously fled, and was
pursued by his foes beyond the summit of the mountain.

When within a short distance of the Ti, the warrior with the
wounded head, who proved to be Narmonee, tottered forward two or
three steps, and fell helplessly to the ground; but not before
another had caught the end of the pole from his shoulder, and
placed it upon his own.

The excited throng of islanders, who surrounded the person of the
king and the dead bodies of the enemy, approached the spot where
I stood, brandishing their rude implements of warfare, many of
which were bruised and broken, and uttering continual shouts of
triumph.  When the crowd drew up opposite the Ti, I set myself to
watch their proceedings most attentively; but scarcely had they
halted when my servitor, who had left my side for an instant,
touched my arm and proposed our returning to Marheyo's house.  To
this I objected; but, to my surprise, Kory-Kory reiterated his
request, and with an unusual vehemence of manner.  Still,
however, I refused to comply, and was retreating before him, as
in his importunity he pressed upon me, when I felt a heavy hand
laid upon my shoulder, and turning round, encountered the bulky
form of Mow-Mow, a one-eyed chief, who had just detached himself
from the crowd below, and had mounted the rear of the pi-pi upon
which we stood.  His cheek had been pierced by the point of a
spear, and the wound imparted a still more frightful expression
to his hideously tattooed face, already deformed by the loss of
an eye.  The warrior, without uttering a syllable, pointed
fiercely in the direction of Marheyo's house, while Kory-Kory, at
the same time presenting his back, desired me to mount.

I declined this offer, but intimated my willingness to withdraw,
and moved slowly along the piazza, wondering what could be the
cause of this unusual treatment.  A few minutes' consideration
convinced me that the savages were about to celebrate some
hideous rite in connection with their peculiar customs, and at
which they were determined I should not be present.  I descended
from the pi-pi, and attended by Kory-Kory, who on this occasion
did not show his usual commiseration for my lameness, but seemed
only anxious to hurry me on, walked away from the place.  As I
passed through the noisy throng, which by this time completely
environed the Ti, I looked with fearful curiosity at the three
packages, which now were deposited upon the ground; but although
I had no doubt as to their contents, still their thick coverings
prevented my actually detecting the form of a human body.

 The next morning, shortly after sunrise, the same thundering
sounds which had awakened me from sleep on the second day of the
Feast of Calabashes, assured me that the savages were on the eve
of celebrating another, and, as I fully believed, a horrible
solemnity.

All the inmates of the house, with the exception of Marheyo, his
son, and Tinor, after assuming their gala dresses, departed in
the direction of the Taboo Groves.

Although I did not anticipate a compliance with my request,
still, with a view of testing the truth of my suspicions, I
proposed to Kory-Kory that, according to our usual custom in the
morning, we should take a stroll to the Ti: he positively
refused; and when I renewed the request, he evinced his
determination to prevent my going there; and, to divert my mind
from the subject, he offered to accompany me to the stream.  We
accordingly went, and bathed.  On our coming back to the house, I
was surprised to find that all its inmates had returned, and were
lounging upon the mats as usual, although the drums still sounded
from the groves.

The rest of the day I spent with Kory-Kory and Fayaway, wandering
about a part of the valley situated in an opposite direction from
the Ti, and whenever I so much as looked towards that building,
although it was hidden from view by intervening trees, and at the
distance of more than a mile, my attendant would exclaim, 'Taboo,
taboo!'

At the various houses where we stopped, I found many of the
inhabitants reclining at their ease, or pursuing some light
occupation, as if nothing unusual were going forward; but amongst
them all I did not perceive a single chief or warrior.  When I
asked several of the people why they were not at the 'Hoolah
Hoolah' (the feast), their uniformly answered the question in a
manner which implied that it was not intended for them, but for
Mehevi, Narmonee, Mow-Mow, Kolor, Womonoo, Kalow, running over,
in their desire to make me comprehend their meaning, the names of
all the principal chiefs.

Everything, in short, strengthened my suspicions with regard to
the nature of the festival they were now celebrating; and which
amounted almost to a certainty.  While in Nukuheva I had
frequently been informed that the whole tribe were never present
at these cannibal banquets, but the chiefs and priests only; and
everything I now observed agreed with the account.

The sound of the drums continued without intermission the whole
day, and falling continually upon my ear, caused me a sensation
of horror which I am unable to describe.  On the following day,
hearing none of those noisy indications of revelry, I concluded
that the inhuman feast was terminated; and feeling a kind of
morbid curiosity to discover whether the Ti might furnish any
evidence of what had taken place there, I proposed to Kory-Kory
to walk there.  To this proposition he replied by pointing with
his finger to the newly risen sun, and then up to the zenith,
intimating that our visit must be deferred until noon.  Shortly
after that hour we accordingly proceeded to the Taboo Groves, and
as soon as we entered their precincts, I looked fearfully round
in, quest of some memorial of the scene which had so lately been
acted there; but everything appeared as usual.  On reaching the
Ti, we found Mehevi and a few chiefs reclining on the mats, who
gave me as friendly a reception as ever.  No allusions of any
kind were made by them to the recent events; and I refrained, for
obvious reasons, from referring to them myself.

After staying a short time I took my leave.  In passing along the
piazza, previously to descending from the pi-pi, I observed a
curiously carved vessel of wood, of considerable size, with a
cover placed over it, of the same material, and which resembled
in shape a small canoe.  It was surrounded by a low railing of
bamboos, the top of which was scarcely a foot from the ground.  
As the vessel had been placed in its present position since my
last visit, I at once concluded that it must have some connection
with the recent festival, and, prompted by a curiosity I could
not repress, in passing it I raised one end of the cover; at the
same moment the chiefs, perceiving my design, loudly ejaculated,
'Taboo!  taboo!'

But the slight glimpse sufficed; my eyes fell upon the disordered
members of a human skeleton, the bones still fresh with moisture,
and with particles of flesh clinging to them here and there!

Kory-Kory, who had been a little in advance of me, attracted by
the exclamations of the chiefs, turned round in time to witness
the expression of horror on my countenance.  He now hurried
towards me, pointing at the same time to the canoe, and
exclaiming rapidly, 'Puarkee!  puarkee!' (Pig, pig).  I pretended
to yield to the deception, and repeated the words after him
several times, as though acquiescing in what he said.  The other
savages, either deceived by my conduct or unwilling to manifest
their displeasure at what could not now be remedied, took no
further notice of the occurrence, and I immediately left the Ti.

All that night I lay awake, revolving in my mind the fearful
situation in which I was placed.  The last horrid revelation had
now been made, and the full sense of my condition rushed upon my
mind with a force I had never before experienced.

Where, thought I, desponding, is there the slightest prospect of
escape?  The only person who seemed to possess the ability to
assist me was the stranger Marnoo; but would he ever return to
the valley?  and if he did, should I be permitted to hold any
communication with him?  It seemed as if I were cut off from
every source of hope, and that nothing remained but passively to
await whatever fate was in store for me.  A thousand times I
endeavoured to account for the mysterious conduct of the natives.

For what conceivable purpose did they thus retain me a captive?  
What could be their object in treating me with such apparent
kindness, and did it not cover some treacherous scheme?  Or, if
they had no other design than to hold me a prisoner, how should I
be able to pass away my days in this narrow valley, deprived of
all intercourse with civilized beings, and for ever separated
from friends and home?

One only hope remained to me.  The French could not long defer a
visit to the bay, and if they should permanently locate any of
their troops in the valley, the savages could not for any length
of time conceal my existence from them.  But what reason had I to
suppose that I should be spared until such an event occurred, an
event which might be postponed by a hundred different
contingencies?



CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

THE STRANGER AGAIN ARRIVES IN THE VALLEY--SINGULAR INTERVIEW WITH
HIM--ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE--FAILURE--MELANCHOLY SITUATION--SYMPATHY
OF MARHEYO

'MARNOO, Marnoo pemi!'  Such were the welcome sounds which fell
upon my ear some ten days after the events related in the
preceding chapter.  Once more the approach of the stranger was
heralded, and the intelligence operated upon me like magic.  
Again I should be able to converse with him in my own language;
and I resolve at all hazards to concert with him some scheme,
however desperate, to rescue me from a condition that had now
become insupportable.

As he drew near, I remembered with many misgivings the
inauspicious termination of our former interview, and when he
entered the house, I watched with intense anxiety the reception
he met with from its inmates.  To my joy, his appearance was
hailed with the liveliest pleasure; and accosting me kindly, he
seated himself by my, side, and entered into conversation with
the natives around him.  It soon appeared however, that on this
occasion he had not any intelligence of importance to
communicate.  I inquired of him from whence he had just come?  He
replied from Pueearka, his native valley, and that he intended to
return to it the same day.

At once it struck me that, could I but reach that valley under
his protection, I might easily from thence reach Nukuheva by
water; and animated by the prospect which this plan held, out I
disclosed it in a few brief words to the stranger, and asked him
how it could be best accomplished.  My heart sunk within me, when
in his broken English he answered me that it could never be
effected.  'Kanaka no let you go nowhere,' he said; 'you taboo.
Why you no like to stay?  Plenty moee-moee (sleep)--plenty ki-ki
(eat)--plenty wahenee (young girls)--Oh, very good place Typee!  
Suppose you no like this bay, why you come?  You no hear about
Typee?  All white men afraid Typee, so no white men come.'

These words distressed me beyond belief; and when I had again
related to him the circumstances under which I had descended into
the valley, and sought to enlist his sympathies in my behalf by
appealing to the bodily misery I had endure, he listened with
impatience, and cut me short by exclaiming passionately, 'Me no
hear you talk any more; by by Kanaka get mad, kill you and me
too.  No you see he no want you to speak at all?--you see--ah! 
by by you no mind--you get well, he kill you, eat you, hang you
head up there, like Happar Kanaka.--Now you listen--but no talk
any more.  By by I go;--you see way I go--Ah!  then some night
Kanaka all moee-moee (sleep)--you run away, you come Pueearka.  I
speak Pueearka Kanaka--he no harm you--ah!  then I take you my
canoe Nukuheva--and you run away ship no more.'  With these
words, enforced by a vehemence of gesture I cannot describe,
Marnoo started from my side, and immediately engaged in
conversation with some of the chiefs who had entered the house.

It would have been idle for me to have attempted resuming the
interview so peremptorily terminated by Marnoo, who was evidently
little disposed to compromise his own safety by any rash
endeavour to ensure mine.  But the plan he had suggested struck
me as one which might possibly be accomplished, and I resolved to
act upon it as speedily as possible.

Accordingly, when he arose to depart, I accompanied him with the
natives outside of the house, with a view of carefully noting the
path he would take in leaving the valley.  Just before leaping
from the pi-pi he clasped my hand, and looking significantly at
me, exclaimed, 'Now you see--you do what I tell you--ah!  then
you do good;--you no do so--ah!  then you die.'  The next moment
he waved his spear to the islanders, and following the route that
conducted to a defile in the mountains lying opposite the Happar
side, was soon out of sight.

A mode of escape was now presented to me, but how was I to avail
myself of it?  I was continually surrounded by the savages; I
could not stir from one house to another without being attended
by some of them; and even during the hours devoted to slumber,
the slightest movement which I made seemed to attract the notice
of those who shared the mats with me.  In spite of these
obstacles, however, I determined forthwith to make the attempt.  
To do so with any prospect of success, it was necessary that I
should have at least two hours start before the islanders should
discover my absence; for with such facility was any alarm spread
through the valley, and so familiar, of course, were the
inhabitants with the intricacies of the groves, that I could not
hope, lame and feeble as I was, and ignorant of the route, to
secure my escape unless I had this advantage.  It was also by
night alone that I could hope to accomplish my object, and then
only by adopting the utmost precaution.

The entrance to Marheyo's habitation was through a low narrow
opening in its wicker-work front.  This passage, for no
conceivable reason that I could devise, was always closed after
the household had retired to rest, by drawing a heavy slide
across it, composed of a dozen or more bits of wood, ingeniously
fastened together by seizings of sinnate.  When any of the
inmates chose to go outside, the noise occasioned by the removing
of this rude door awakened every body else; and on more than one
occasion I had remarked that the islanders were nearly as
irritable as more civilized beings under similar circumstances.

The difficulty thus placed in my way I, determined to obviate in
the following manner.  I would get up boldly in the course of the
night, and drawing the slide, issue from the house, and pretend
that my object was merely to procure a drink from the calabash,
which always stood without the dwelling on the corner of the
pi-pi.  On re-entering I would purposely omit closing the passage
after me, and trusting that the indolence of the savages would
prevent them from repairing my neglect, would return to my mat,
and waiting patiently until all were again asleep, I would then
steal forth, and at once take the route to Pueearka.

The very night which followed Marnoo's departure, I proceeded to
put this project into execution.  About midnight, as I imagined,
I arose and drew the slide.  The natives, just as I had expected,
started up, while some of them asked, 'Arware poo awa, Tommo?'
(where are you going, Tommo?)  'Wai' (water) I laconically
answered, grasping the calabash.  On hearing my reply they sank
back again, and in a minute or two I returned to my mat,
anxiously awaiting the result of the experiment.

One after another the savages, turning restlessly, appeared to
resume their slumbers, and rejoicing at the stillness which
prevailed, I was about to rise again from my couch, when I heard
a slight rustling--a dark form was intercepted between me and the
doorway--the slide was drawn across it, and the individual,
whoever he was, returned to his mat.  This was a sad blow to me;
but as it might have aroused the suspicions of the islanders to
have made another attempt that night, I was reluctantly obliged
to defer it until the next.  Several times after I repeated the
same manoeuvre, but with as little success as before.  As my
pretence for withdrawing from the house was to allay my thirst,
Kory-Kory either suspecting some design on my part, or else
prompted by a desire to please me, regularly every evening placed
a calabash of water by my side.

Even, under these inauspicious circumstances I again and again
renewed the attempt, but when I did so, my valet always rose with
me, as if determined I should not remove myself from his
observation.  For the present, therefore, I was obliged to
abandon the attempt; but I endeavoured to console myself with the
idea that by this mode I might yet effect my escape.

Shortly after Marnoo's visit I was reduced to such a state that
it was with extreme difficulty I could walk, even with the
assistance of a spear, and Kory-Kory, as formerly, was obliged to
carry me daily to the stream.

For hours and hours during the warmest part of the day I lay upon
my mat, and while those around me were nearly all dozing away in
careless ease, I remained awake, gloomily pondering over the fate
which it appeared now idle for me to resist, when I thought of
the loved friends who were thousands and thousands of miles from
the savage island in which I was held a captive, when I reflected
that my dreadful fate would for ever be concealed from them, and
that with hope deferred they might continue to await my return
long after my inanimate form had blended with the dust of the
valley--I could not repress a shudder of anguish.

How vividly is impressed upon my mind every minute feature of the
scene which met my view during those long days of suffering and
sorrow.  At my request my mats were always spread directly facing
the door, opposite which, and at a little distance, was the hut
of boughs that Marheyo was building.

Whenever my gentle Fayaway and Kory-Kory, laying themselves down
beside me, would leave me awhile to uninterrupted repose, I took
a strange interest in the slightest movements of the eccentric
old warrior.  All alone during the stillness of the tropical
mid-day, he would pursue his quiet work, sitting in the shade and
weaving together the leaflets of his cocoanut branches, or
rolling upon his knee the twisted fibres of bark to form the
cords with which he tied together the thatching of his tiny
house.  Frequently suspending his employment, and noticing my
melancholy eye fixed upon him, he would raise his hand with a
gesture expressive of deep commiseration, and then moving towards
me slowly, would enter on tip-toes, fearful of disturbing the
slumbering natives, and, taking the fan from my hand, would sit
before me, swaying it gently to and fro, and gazing earnestly
into my face.

Just beyond the pi-pi, and disposed in a triangle before the
entrance of the house, were three magnificent bread-fruit trees.  
At this moment I can recap to my mind their slender shafts, and
the graceful inequalities of their bark, on which my eye was
accustomed to dwell day after day in the midst of my solitary
musings.  It is strange how inanimate objects will twine
themselves into our affections, especially in the hour of
affliction.  Even now, amidst all the bustle and stir of the
proud and busy city in which I am dwelling, the image of those
three trees seems to come as vividly before my eyes as if they
were actually present, and I still feel the soothing quiet
pleasure which I then had in watching hour after hour their
topmost boughs waving gracefully in the breeze.



CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

THE ESCAPE

NEARLY three weeks had elapsed since the second visit of Marnoo,
and it must have been more than four months since I entered the
valley, when one day about noon, and whilst everything was in
profound silence, Mow-Mow, the one-eyed chief, suddenly appeared
at the door, and leaning towards me as I lay directly facing him,
said in a low tone, 'Toby pemi ena' (Toby has arrived here).  
Gracious heaven!  What a tumult of emotions rushed upon me at
this startling intelligence!  Insensible to the pain that had
before distracted me, I leaped to my feet, and called wildly to
Kory-Kory who was reposing by my side.  The startled islanders
sprang from their mats; the news was quickly communicated to
them; and the next moment I was making my way to the Ti on the
back of Kory-Kory; and surrounded by the excited savages.

All that I could comprehend of the particulars which Mow-Mow
rehearsed to his audience as we proceeded, was that my long-lost
companion had arrived in a boat which had just entered the bay.  
These tidings made me most anxious to be carried at once to the
sea, lest some untoward circumstance should prevent our meeting;
but to this they would not consent, and continued their course
towards the royal abode.  As we approached it, Mehevi and several
chiefs showed themselves from the piazza, and called upon us
loudly to come to them.

As soon as we had approached, I endeavoured to make them
understand that I was going down to the sea to meet Toby.  To
this the king objected, and motioned Kory-Kory to bring me into
the house.  It was in vain to resist; and in a few moments I
found myself within the Ti, surrounded by a noisy group engaged
in discussing the recent intelligence.  Toby's name was
frequently repeated, coupled with violent exclamations of
astonishment.  It seemed as if they yet remained in doubt with
regard to the fact of his arrival, at at every fresh report that
was brought from the shore they betrayed the liveliest emotions.

Almost frenzied at being held in this state of suspense, I
passionately besought Mehevi to permit me to proceed.  Whether my
companion had arrived or not, I felt a presentiment that my own
fate was about to be decided.  Again and again I renewed my
petition to Mehevi.  He regarded me with a fixed and serious eye,
but at length yielding to my importunity, reluctantly granted my
request.

Accompanied by some fifty of the natives, I now rapidly continued
my journey; every few moments being transferred from the back of
one to another, and urging my bearer forward all the while with
earnest entreaties.  As I thus hurried forward, no doubt as to
the truth of the information I had received ever crossed my mind.

I was alive only to the one overwhelming idea, that a chance of
deliverance was now afforded me, if the jealous opposition of the
savages could be overcome.

Having been prohibited from approaching the sea during the whole
of my stay in the valley, I had always associated with it the
idea of escape.  Toby too--if indeed he had ever voluntarily
deserted me--must have effected this flight by the sea; and now
that I was drawing near to it myself, I indulged in hopes which I
had never felt before.  It was evident that a boat had entered
the bay, and I saw little reason to doubt the truth of the report
that it had brought my companion.  Every time therefore that we
gained an elevation, I looked eagerly around, hoping to behold
him.  In the midst of an excited throng, who by their violent
gestures and wild cries appeared to be under the influence of
some excitement as strong as my own, I was now borne along at a
rapid trot, frequently stooping my head to avoid the branches
which crossed the path, and never ceasing to implore those who
carried me to accelerate their already swift pace.

In this manner we had proceeded about four or five miles, when we
were met by a party of some twenty islanders, between whom and
those who accompanied me ensued an animated conference.  
Impatient of the delay occasioned by this interruption, I was
beseeching the man who carried me to proceed without his
loitering companions, when Kory-Kory, running to my side,
informed me, in three fatal words, that the news had all proved,
false--that Toby had not arrived--'Toby owlee pemi'.  Heaven only
knows how, in the state of mind and body I then was, I ever
sustained the agony which this intelligence caused me; not that
the news was altogether unexpected; but I had trusted that the
fact might not have been made known until we should have arrived
upon the beach.  As it was, I at once foresaw the course the
savages would pursue.  They had only yielded thus far to my
entreaties, that I might give a joyful welcome to my long-lost
comrade; but now that it was known he had not arrived they would
at once oblige me to turn back.

My anticipations were but too correct.  In spite of the
resistance I made, they carried me into a house which was near
the spot, and left me upon the mats.  Shortly afterwards several
of those who had accompanied me from the Ti, detaching themselves
from the others, proceeded in the direction of the sea.  Those
who remained--among whom were Marheyo, Mow-Mow, Kory-Kory, and
Tinor--gathered about the dwelling, and appeared to be awaiting
their return.

This convinced me that strangers--perhaps some of my own
countrymen--had for some cause or other entered the bay.  
Distracted at the idea of their vicinity, and reckless of the
pain which I suffered, I heeded not the assurances of the
islanders, that there were no boats at the beach, but starting to
my feet endeavoured to gain the door.  Instantly the passage was
blocked up by several men, who commanded me to resume my seat.  
The fierce looks of the irritated savages admonished me that I
could gain nothing by force, and that it was by entreaty alone
that I could hope to compass my object.

Guided by this consideration, I turned to Mow-Mow, the only chief
present whom I had been much in the habit of seeing, and
carefully concealing, my real design, tried to make him
comprehend that I still believed Toby to have arrived on the
shore, and besought him to allow me to go forward to welcome him.

To all his repeated assertions, that my companion had not been
seen, I pretended to turn a deaf ear, while I urged my
solicitations with an eloquence of gesture which the one-eyed
chief appeared unable to resist.  He seemed indeed to regard me
as a forward child, to whose wishes he had not the heart to
oppose force, and whom he must consequently humour.  He spoke a
few words to the natives, who at once retreated from the door,
and I immediately passed out of the house.

Here I looked earnestly round for Kory-Kory; but that hitherto
faithful servitor was nowhere to be seen.  Unwilling to linger
even for a single instant when every moment might be so
important, I motioned to a muscular fellow near me to take me
upon his back; to my surprise he angrily refused.  I turned to
another, but with a like result.  A third attempt was as
unsuccessful, and I immediately perceived what had induced
Mow-Mow to grant my request, and why the other natives conducted
themselves in so strange a manner.  It was evident that the chief
had only given me liberty to continue my progress towards the
sea, because he supposed that I was deprived of the means of
reaching it.

Convinced by this of their determination to retain me a captive,
I became desperate; and almost insensible to the pain which I
suffered, I seized a spear which was leaning against the
projecting eaves of the house, and supporting myself with it,
resumed the path that swept by the dwelling.  To my surprise, I
was suffered to proceed alone; all the natives remaining in front
of the house, and engaging in earnest conversation, which every
moment became more loud and vehement; and to my unspeakable
delight, I perceived that some difference of opinion had arisen
between them; that two parties, in short, were formed, and
consequently that in their divided counsels there was some chance
of my deliverance.

Before I had proceeded a hundred yards I was again surrounded by
the savages, who were still in all the heat of argument, and
appeared every moment as if they would come to blows.  In the
midst of this tumult old Marheyo came to my side, and I shall
never forget the benevolent expression of his countenance.  He
placed his arm upon my shoulder, and emphatically pronounced the
only two English words I had taught him 'Home' and 'Mother'.  I
at once understood what he meant, and eagerly expressed my thanks
to him.  Fayaway and Kory-Kory were by his side, both weeping
violently; and it was not until the old man had twice repeated
the command that his son could bring himself to obey him, and
take me again upon his back.  The one-eyed chief opposed his
doing so, but he was overruled, and, as it seemed to me, by some
of his own party.

We proceeded onwards, and never shall I forget the ecstasy I felt
when I first heard the roar of the surf breaking upon the beach. 
Before long I saw the flashing billows themselves through the
opening between the trees.  Oh glorious sight and sound of ocean!
with what rapture did I hail you as familiar friends!  By this
time the shouts of the crowd upon the beach were distinctly
audible, and in the blended confusion of sounds I almost fancied
I could distinguish the voices of my own countrymen.

When we reached the open space which lay between the groves and
the sea, the first object that met my view was an English
whale-boat, lying with her bow pointed from the shore, and only a
few fathoms distant from it.  It was manned by five islanders,
dressed in shirt tunics of calico.  My first impression was that
they were in the very act of pulling out from the bay; and that,
after all my exertions, I had come too late.  My soul sunk within
me: but a second glance convinced me that the boat was only
hanging off to keep out of the surf; and the next moment I heard
my own name shouted out by a voice from the midst of the crowd.

Looking in the direction of the sound, I perceived, to my
indescribable joy, the tall figure of Karakoee, an Oahu Kanaka,
who had often been aboard the 'Dolly', while she lay in Nukuheva.

He wore the green shooting-jacket with gilt buttons, which had
been given to him by an officer of the Reine Blanche--the French
flag-ship--and in which I had always seen him dressed.  I now
remembered the Kanaka had frequently told me that his person was
tabooed in all the valleys of the island, and the sight of him at
such a moment as this filled my heart with a tumult of delight.

Karakoee stood near the edge of the water with a large roll of
cotton-cloth thrown over one arm, and holding two or three canvas
bags of powder, while with the other hand he grasped a musket,
which he appeared to be proffering to several of the chiefs
around him.  But they turned with disgust from his offers and
seemed to be impatient at his presence, with vehement gestures
waving him off to his boat, and commanding him to depart.

The Kanaka, however, still maintained his ground, and I at once
perceived that he was seeking to purchase my freedom.  Animated
by the idea, I called upon him loudly to come to me; but he
replied, in broken English, that the islanders had threatened to
pierce him with their spears, if he stirred a foot towards me.  
At this time I was still advancing, surrounded by a dense throng
of the natives, several of whom had their hands upon me, and more
than one javelin was threateningly pointed at me.  Still I
perceived clearly that many of those least friendly towards me
looked irresolute land anxious.  I was still some thirty yards
from Karakoee when my farther progress was prevented by the
natives, who compelled me to sit down upon the ground, while they
still retained their hold upon my arms.  The din and tumult now
became tenfold, and I perceived that several of the priests were
on the spot, all of whom were evidently urging Mow-Mow and the
other chiefs to prevent my departure; and the detestable word
'Roo-ne!  Roo-ne!' which I had heard repeated a thousand times
during the day, was now shouted out on every side of me.  Still I
saw that the Kanaka continued his exertions in my favour--that he
was boldly debating the matter with the savages, and was striving
to entice them by displaying his cloth and powder, and snapping
the lock of his musket.  But all he said or did appeared only to
augment the clamours of those around him, who seemed bent upon
driving him into the sea.

When I remembered the extravagant value placed by these people
upon the articles which were offered to them in exchange for me,
and which were so indignantly rejected, I saw a new proof of the
same fixed determination of purpose they had all along manifested
with regard to me, and in despair, and reckless of consequences,
I exerted all my strength, and shaking myself free from the grasp
of those who held me, I sprang upon my feet and rushed towards
Karakoee.

The rash attempt nearly decided my fate; for, fearful that I
might slip from them, several of the islanders now raised a
simultaneous shout, and pressing upon Karakoee, they menaced him
with furious gestures, and actually forced him into the sea.  
Appalled at their violence, the poor fellow, standing nearly to
the waist in the surf, endeavoured to pacify them; but at length
fearful that they would do him some fatal violence, he beckoned
to his comrades to pull in at once, and take him into the boat.

It was at this agonizing moment, when I thought all hope was
ended, that a new contest arose between the two parties who had
accompanied me to the shore; blows were struck, wounds were
given, and blood flowed.  In the interest excited by the fray,
every one had left me except Marheyo, Kory-Kory and poor dear
Fayaway, who clung to me, sobbing indignantly.  I saw that now or
never was the moment.  Clasping my hands together, I looked
imploringly at Marheyo, and move towards the now almost deserted
beach.  The tears were in the old man's eyes, but neither he nor
Kory-Kory attempted to hold me, and I soon reached the Kanaka,
who had anxiously watched my movements; the rowers pulled in as
near as they dared to the edge of the surf; I gave one parting
embrace to Fayaway, who seemed speechless with sorrow, and the
next instant I found myself safe in the boat, and Karakoee by my
side, who told the rowers at once to give way.  Marheyo and
Kory-Kory, and a great many of the women, followed me into the
water, and I was determined, as the only mark of gratitude I
could show, to give them the articles which had been brought as
my ransom.  I handed the musket to Kory-Kory, with a rapid
gesture which was equivalent to a 'Deed of Gift'; threw the roll
of cotton to old Marheyo, pointing as I did so to poor Fayaway,
who had retired from the edge of the water and was sitting down
disconsolate on the shingles; and tumbled the powder-bags out to
the nearest young ladies, all of whom were vastly willing to take
them.  This distribution did not occupy ten seconds, and before
it was over the boat was under full way; the Kanaka all the while
exclaiming loudly against what he considered a useless throwing
away of valuable property.

Although it was dear that my movements had been noticed by
several of the natives, still they had not suspended the conflict
in which they were engaged, and it was not until the boat was
above fifty yards from the shore that Mow-Mow and some six or
seven other warriors rushed into the sea and hurled their
javelins at us.  Some of the weapons passed quite as close to us
as was desirable, but no one was wounded, and the men pulled away
gallantly.  But although soon out of the reach of the spears, our
progress was extremely slow; it blew strong upon the shore, and
the tide was against us; and I saw Karakoee, who was steering the
boat, give many a look towards a jutting point of the bay round
which we had to pass.

For a minute or two after our departure, the savages, who had
formed into different groups, remained perfectly motionless and
silent.  All at-once the enraged chief showed by his gestures
that he had resolved what course he would take.  Shouting loudly
to his companions, and pointing with his tomahawk towards the
headland, he set off at full speed in that direction, and was
followed by about thirty of the natives, among whom were several
of the priests, all yelling out 'Roo-ne!  Roo-ne!' at the very
top of their voices.  Their intention was evidently to swim off
from the headland and intercept us in our course.  The wind was
freshening every minute, and was right in our teeth, and it was
one of those chopping angry seas in which it is so difficult to
row.  Still the chances seemed in our favour, but when we came
within a hundred yards of the point, the active savages were
already dashing into the water, and we all feared that within
five minutes' time we should have a score of the infuriated
wretches around us.  If so our doom was sealed, for these
savages, unlike the feeble swimmer of civilized countries, are,
if anything, more formidable antagonists in the water than when
on the land.  It was all a trial of strength; our natives pulled
till their oars bent again, and the crowd of swimmers shot
through the water despite its roughness, with fearful rapidity.

By the time we had reached the headland, the savages were spread
right across our course.  Our rowers got out their knives and
held them ready between their teeth, and I seized the boat-hook.  
We were all aware that if they succeeded in intercepting us they
would practise upon us the manoeuvre which has proved so fatal to
many a boat's crew in these seas.  They would grapple the oars,
and seizing hold of the gunwhale, capsize the boat, and then we
should be entirely at their mercy.

After a few breathless moments discerned Mow-Mow.  The athletic
islander, with his tomahawk between his teeth, was dashing the
water before him till it foamed again.  He was the nearest to us,
and in another instant he would have seized one of the oars.  
Even at the moment I felt horror at the act I was about to
commit; but it was no time for pity or compunction, and with a
true aim, and exerting all my strength, I dashed the boat-hook at
him.  It struck him just below the throat, and forced him
downwards.  I had no time to repeat the blow, but I saw him rise
to the surface in the wake of the boat, and never shall I forget
the ferocious expression of his countenance.

Only one other of the savages reached the boat.  He seized the
gunwhale, but the knives of our rowers so mauled his wrists, that
he was forced to quit his hold, and the next minute we were past
them all, and in safety.  The strong excitement which had thus
far kept me up, now left me, and I fell back fainting into the
arms of Karakoee.

            .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

The circumstances connected with my most unexpected escape may be
very briefly stated.  The captain of an Australian vessel, being
in distress for men in these remote seas, had put into Nukuheva
in order to recruit his ship's company; but not a single man was
to be obtained; and the barque was about to get under weigh, when
she was boarded by Karakoee, who informed the disappointed
Englishman that an American sailor was detained by the savages in
the neighbouring bay of Typee; and he offered, if supplied with
suitable articles of traffic, to undertake his release.  The
Kanaka had gained his intelligence from Marnoo, to whom, after
all, I was indebted for my escape.  The proposition was acceded
to; and Karakoee, taking with him five tabooed natives of
Nukuheva, again repaired aboard the barque, which in a few hours
sailed to that part of the island, and threw her main-top-sail
aback right off the entrance to the Typee bay.  The whale-boat,
manned by the tabooed crew, pulled towards the head of the inlet,
while the ship lay 'off and on' awaiting its return.

The events which ensued have already been detailed, and little
more remains to be related.  On reaching the 'Julia' I was lifted
over the side, and my strange appearance and remarkable adventure
occasioned the liveliest interest.  Every attention was bestowed
upon me that humanity could suggest.  But to such a state was I
reduced, that three months elapsed before I recovered my health.

The mystery which hung over the fate of my friend and companion
Toby has never been cleared up.  I still remain ignorant whether
he succeeded in leaving the valley, or perished at the hands of
the islanders.



 THE STORY OF TOBY

THE morning my comrade left me, as related in the narrative, he
was accompanied by a large party of the natives, some of them
carrying fruit and hogs for the purposes of traffic, as the
report had spread that boats had touched at the bay.

As they proceeded through the settled parts of the valley,
numbers joined them from every side, running with animated cries
from every pathway.  So excited were the whole party, that eager
as Toby was to gain the beach, it was almost as much as he could
do to keep up with them.  Making the valley ring with their
shouts, they hurried along on a swift trot, those in advance
pausing now and then, and flourishing their weapons to urge the
rest forward.

Presently they came to a place where the paths crossed a bend of
the main stream of the valley.  Here a strange sound came through
the grove beyond, and the Islanders halted.  It was Mow-Mow, the
one-eyed chief, who had gone on before; he was striking his heavy
lance against the hollow bough of a tree.

This was a signal of alarm;--for nothing was now heard but shouts
of 'Happar!  Happar!'--the warriors tilting with their spears and
brandishing them in the air, and the women and boys shouting to
each other, and picking up the stones in the bed of the stream.  
In a moment or two Mow-Mow and two or three other chiefs ran out
from the grove, and the din increased ten fold.

Now, thought Toby, for a fray; and being unarmed, he besought one
of the young men domiciled with Marheyo for the loan of his
spear.  But he was refused; the youth roguishly telling him that
the weapon was very good for him (the Typee), but that a white
man could fight much better with his fists.

The merry humour of this young wag seemed to be shared by the
rest, for in spite of their warlike cries and gestures, everybody
was capering and laughing, as if it was one of the funniest
things in the world to be awaiting the flight of a score or two
of Happar javelins from an ambush in the thickets.

While my comrade was in vain trying to make out the meaning of
all this, a good number of the natives separated themselves from
the rest and ran off into the grove on one side, the others now
keeping perfectly still, as if awaiting the result.  After a
little while, however, Mow-Mow, who stood in advance, motioned
them to come on stealthily, which they did, scarcely rustling a
leaf.  Thus they crept along for ten or fifteen minutes, every
now and then pausing to listen.

Toby by no means relished this sort of skulking; if there was
going to be a fight, he wanted it to begin at once.  But all in
good time,--for just then, as they went prowling into the
thickest of the wood, terrific howls burst upon them on all
sides, and volleys of darts and stones flew across the path.  Not
an enemy was to be seen, and what was still more surprising, not
a single man dropped, though the pebbles fell among the leaves
like hail.

There was a moment's pause, when the Typees, with wild shrieks,
flung themselves into the covert, spear in hand; nor was Toby
behindhand.  Coming so near getting his skull broken by the
stones, and animated by an old grudge he bore the Happars, he was
among the first to dash at them.  As he broke his way through the
underbush, trying, as he did so, to wrest a spear from a young
chief, the shouts of battle all of a sudden ceased, and the wood
was as still as death.  The next moment, the party who had left
them so mysteriously rushed out from behind every bush and tree,
and united with the rest in long and merry peals of laughter.

It was all a sham, and Toby, who was quite out of breath with
excitement, was much incensed at being made a fool of.

It afterwards turned out that the whole affair had been concerted
for his particular benefit, though with what precise view it
would be hard to tell.  My comrade was the more enraged at this
boys' play, since it had consumed so much time, every moment of
which might be precious.  Perhaps, however, it was partly
intended for this very purpose; and he was led to think so,
because when the natives started again, he observed that they did
not seem to be in so great a hurry as before.  At last, after
they had gone some distance, Toby, thinking all the while that
they never would get to the sea, two men came running towards
them, and a regular halt ensued, followed by a noisy discussion,
during which Toby's name was often repeated.  All this made him
more and more anxious to learn what was going on at the beach;
but it was in vain that he now tried to push forward; the natives
held him back.

In a few moments the conference ended, and many of them ran down
the path in the direction of the water, the rest surrounding
Toby, and entreating him to 'Moee', or sit down and rest himself.

As an additional inducement, several calabashes of food, which
had been brought along, were now placed on the ground, and
opened, and pipes also were lighted.  Toby bridled his impatience
a while, but at last sprang to his feet and dashed forward again.

He was soon overtaken nevertheless, and again surrounded, but
without further detention was then permitted to go down to the
sea.

They came out upon a bright green space between the groves and
the water, and close under the shadow of the Happar mountain,
where a path was seen winding out of sight through a gorge.

No sign of a boat, however, was beheld, nothing but a tumultuous
crowd of men and women, and some one in their midst, earnestly
talking to them.  As my comrade advanced, this person came
forward and proved to be no stranger.  He was an old grizzled
sailor, whom Toby and myself had frequently seen in Nukuheva,
where he lived an easy devil-may-care life in the household of
Mowanna the king, going by the name of 'Jimmy'.  In fact he was
the royal favourite, and had a good deal to say in his master's
councils.  He wore a Manilla hat and a sort of tappa morning
gown, sufficiently loose and negligent to show the verse of a
song tattooed upon his chest, and a variety of spirited cuts by
native artists in other parts of his body.  He sported a fishing
rod in his hand, and carried a sooty old pipe slung about his
neck.

This old rover having retired from active life, had resided in
Nukuheva some time--could speak the language, and for that reason
was frequently employed by the French as an interpreter.  He was
an arrant old gossip too; for ever coming off in his canoe to the
ships in the bay, and regaling their crews with choice little
morsels of court scandal--such, for instance, as a shameful
intrigue of his majesty with a Happar damsel, a public dancer at
the feasts--and otherwise relating some incredible tales about
the Marquesas generally.  I remember in particular his telling
the Dolly's crew what proved to be literally a cock-and-bull
story, about two natural prodigies which he said were then on the
island.  One was an old monster of a hermit, having a marvellous
reputation for sanctity, and reputed a famous sorcerer, who lived
away off in a den among the mountains, where he hid from the
world a great pair of horns that grew out of his temples.  
Notwithstanding his reputation for piety, this horrid old fellow
was the terror of all the island round, being reported to come
out from his retreat, and go a man-hunting every dark night.  
Some anonymous Paul Pry, too, coming down the mountain, once got
a peep at his den, and found it full of bones.  In short, he was
a most unheard-of monster.

The other prodigy Jimmy told us about was the younger son of a
chief, who, although but just turned of ten, had entered upon
holy orders, because his superstitious countrymen thought him
especially intended for the priesthood from the fact of his
having a comb on his head like a rooster.  But this was not all;
for still more wonderful to relate, the boy prided himself upon
his strange crest, being actually endowed with a cock's voice,
and frequently crowing over his peculiarity.

But to return to Toby.  The moment he saw the old rover on the
beach, he ran up to him, the natives following after, and forming
a circle round them.

After welcoming him to the shore, Jimmy went on to tell him how
that he knew all about our having run away from the ship, and
being among the Typees.  Indeed, he had been urged by Mowanna to
come over to the valley, and after visiting his friends there, to
bring us back with him, his royal master being exceedingly
anxious to share with him the reward which had been held out for
our capture.  He, however, assured Toby that he had indignantly
spurned the offer.

All this astonished my comrade not a little, as neither of us had
entertained the least idea that any white man ever visited the
Typees sociably.  But Jimmy told him that such was the case
nevertheless, although he seldom came into the bay, and scarcely
ever went back from the beach.  One of the priests of the valley,
in some way or other connected with an old tattooed divine in
Nukuheva, was a friend of his, and through him he was 'taboo'.

He said, moreover, that he was sometimes employed to come round
to the bay, and engage fruit for ships lying in Nukuheva.  In
fact, he was now on that very errand, according to his own
account, having just come across the mountains by the way of
Happar.  By noon of the next day the fruit would be heaped up in
stacks on the beach, in readiness for the boats which he then
intended to bring into the bay.

Jimmy now asked Toby whether he wished to leave the island--if he
did, there was a ship in want of men lying in the other harbour,
and he would be glad to take him over, and see him on board that
very day.

'No,' said Toby, 'I cannot leave the island unless my comrade
goes with me.  I left him up the valley because they would not
let him come down.  Let us go now and fetch him.'

'But how is he to cross the mountain with us,' replied Jimmy,
'even if we get him down to the beach?  Better let him stay till
tomorrow, and I will bring him round to Nukuheva in the boats.'  

'That will never do,' said Toby, 'but come along with me now, and
let us get him down here at any rate,' and yielding to the
impulse of the moment, he started to hurry back into the valley.  
But hardly was his back turned, when a dozen hands were laid on
him, and he learned that he could not go a step further.

It was in vain that he fought with them; they would not hear of
his stirring from the beach.  Cut to the heart at this unexpected
repulse, Toby now conjured the sailor to go after me alone.  But
Jimmy replied, that in the mood the Typees then were they would
not permit him so to do, though at the same time he was not
afraid of their offering him any harm.

Little did Toby then think, as he afterwards had good reason to
suspect, that this very Jimmy was a heartless villain, who, by
his arts, had just incited the natives to restrain him as he was
in the act of going after me.  Well must the old sailor have
known, too, that the natives would never consent to our leaving
together, and he therefore wanted to get Toby off alone, for a
purpose which he afterwards made plain.  Of all this, however, my
comrade now knew nothing.

He was still struggling with the islanders when Jimmy again came
up to him, and warned him against irritating them, saying that he
was only making matters worse for both of us, and if they became
enraged, there was no telling what might happen.  At last he made
Toby sit down on a broken canoe by a pile of stones, upon which
was a ruinous little shrine supported by four upright poles, and
in front partly screened by a net.  The fishing parties met
there, when they came in from the sea, for their offerings were
laid before an image, upon a smooth black stone within.  This
spot Jimmy said was strictly 'taboo', and no one would molest or
come near him while he stayed by its shadow.  The old sailor then
went off, and began speaking very earnestly to Mow-Mow and some
other chiefs, while all the rest formed a circle round the taboo
place, looking intently at Toby, and talking to each other
without ceasing.

Now, notwithstanding what Jimmy had just told him, there
presently came up to my comrade an old woman, who seated herself
beside him on the canoe.

'Typee motarkee?'  said she.  'Motarkee nuee,' said Toby.

She then asked him whether he was going to Nukuheva; he nodded
yes; and with a plaintive wall and her eyes filling with tears
she rose and left him.

This old woman, the sailor afterwards said, was the wife of an
aged king of a small island valley, communicating by a deep pass
with the country of the Typees.  The inmates of the two valleys
were related to each other by blood, and were known by the same
name.  The old woman had gone down into the Typee valley the day
before, and was now with three chiefs, her sons, on a visit to
her kinsmen.

As the old king's wife left him, Jimmy again came up to Toby, and
told him that he had just talked the whole matter over with the
natives, and there was only one course for him to follow.  They
would not allow him to go back into the valley, and harm would
certainly come to both him and me, if he remained much longer on
the beach.  'So,' said he, 'you and I had better go to Nukuheva
now overland, and tomorrow I will bring Tommo, as they call him,
by water; they have promised to carry him down to the sea for me
early in the morning, so that there will be no delay.'

'No, no,' said Toby desperately, 'I will not leave him that way;
we must escape together.'

'Then there is no hope for you,' exclaimed the sailor, 'for if I
leave you here on the beach, as soon as I am gone you will be
carried back into the valley, and then neither of you will ever
look upon the sea again.'  And with many oaths he swore that if
he would only go to Nukuheva with him that day, he would be sure
to have me there the very next morning.

'But how do you know they will bring him down to the beach
tomorrow, when they will not do so today?'  said Toby.  But the
sailor had many reasons, all of which were so mixed up with the
mysterious customs of the islanders, that he was none the wiser.  
Indeed, their conduct, especially in preventing him from
returning into the valley, was absolutely unaccountable to him;
and added to everything else, was the bitter reflection, that the
old sailor, after all, might possibly be deceiving him.  And then
again he had to think of me, left alone with the natives, and by
no means well.  If he went with Jimmy, he might at least hope to
procure some relief for me.  But might not the savages who had
acted so strangely, hurry me off somewhere before his return?
Then, even if he remained, perhaps they would not let him go back
into the valley where I was.

Thus perplexed was my poor comrade; he knew not what to do, and
his courageous spirit was of no use to him now.  There he was,
all by himself, seated upon the broken canoe--the natives grouped
around him at a distance, and eyeing him more and more fixedly.
'It is getting late: said Jimmy, who was standing behind the
rest.  'Nukuheva is far off, and I cannot cross the Happar
country by night.  You see how it is;--if you come along with
me,.  all will be well; if you do not, depend upon it, neither of
you will ever escape.'

'There is no help for it,' said Toby, at last, with a heavy
heart, 'I will have to trust you,' and he came out from the
shadow of the little shrine, and cast a long look up the valley.

'Now keep close to my side,' said the sailor, 'and let us be
moving quickly.'  Tinor and Fayaway here appeared; the
kindhearted old woman embracing Toby's knees, and giving way to a
flood of tears; while Fayaway, hardly less moved, spoke some few
words of English she had learned, and held up three fingers
before him--in so many days he would return.

At last Jimmy pulled Toby out of the crowd, and after calling to
a young Typee who was standing by with a young pig in his arms,
all three started for the mountains.

'I have told them that you are coming back again,' said the old
fellow, laughing, as they began the ascent, 'but they'll have to
wait a long time.'  Toby turned, and saw the natives all in
motion--the girls waving their tappas in adieu, and the men their
spears.  As the last figure entered the grove with one arm
raised, and the three fingers spread, his heart smote him.

As the natives had at last consented to his going, it might have
been, that some of them, at least, really counted upon his speedy
return; probably supposing, as indeed he had told them when they
were coming down the valley, that his only object in leaving them
was to procure the medicines I needed.  This, Jimmy also must
have told them.  And as they had done before, when my comrade, to
oblige me, started on his perilous journey to Nukuheva, they
looked upon me, in his absence, as one of two inseparable friends
who was a sure guaranty for the other's return.  This is only my
own supposition, however, for as to all their strange conduct, it
is still a mystery.

'You see what sort of a taboo man I am,' said the sailor, after
for some time silently following the path which led up the
mountain.  'Mow-Mow made me a present of this pig here, and the
man who carries it will go right through Happar, and down into
Nukuheva with us.  So long as he stays by me he is safe, and just
so it will be with you, and tomorrow with Tommo.  Cheer up, then,
and rely upon me, you will see him in the morning.'

The ascent of the mountain was not very difficult, owing to its
being near to the sea, where the island ridges are comparatively
low; the path, too, was a fine one, so that in a short time all
three were standing on the summit with the two valleys at their
feet.  The white cascade marking the green head of the Typee
valley first caught Toby's eye; Marheyo's house could easily be
traced by them.

As Jimmy led the way along the ridge, Toby observed that the
valley of the Happars did not extend near so far inland as that
of the Typees.  This accounted for our mistake in entering the
latter valley as we had.

A path leading down from the mountain was soon seen, and,
following it, the party were in a short time fairly in the Happar
valley.

'Now,' said Jimmy, as they hurried on, 'we taboo men have wives
in all the bays, and I am going to show you the two I have here.'

So, when they came to the house where he said they lived,--which
was close by the base of the mountain in a shady nook among the
groves--he went in, and was quite furious at finding it
empty--the ladies, had gone out.  However, they soon made their
appearance, and to tell the truth, welcomed Jimmy quite
cordially, as well as Toby, about whom they were very
inquisitive.  Nevertheless, as the report of their arrival
spread, and the Happars began to assemble, it became evident that
the appearance of a white stranger among them was not by any
means deemed so wonderful an event as in the neighbouring valley.

The old sailor now bade his wives prepare something to eat, as he
must be in Nukuheva before dark.  A meal of fish, bread-fruit,
and bananas, was accordingly served up, the party regaling
themselves on the mats, in the midst of a numerous company.

The Happars put many questions to Jimmy about Toby; and Toby
himself looked sharply at them, anxious to recognize the fellow
who gave him the wound from which he was still suffering.  But
this fiery gentleman, so handy with his spear, had the delicacy,
it seemed, to keep out of view.  Certainly the sight of him would
not have been any added inducement to making a stay in the
valley,--some of the afternoon loungers in Happar having politely
urged Toby to spend a few days with them,--there was a feast
coming on.  He, however, declined.

All this while the young Typee stuck to Jimmy like his shadow,
and though as lively a dog as any of his tribe, he was now as
meek as a lamb, never opening his mouth except to eat.  Although
some of the Happars looked queerly at him, others were more
civil, and seemed desirous of taking him abroad and showing him
the valley.  But the Typee was not to be cajoled in that way.  
How many yards he would have to remove from Jimmy before the
taboo would be powerless, it would be hard to tell, but probably
he himself knew to a fraction.

On the promise of a red cotton handkerchief, and something else
which he kept secret, this poor fellow had undertaken a rather
ticklish journey, though, as far as Toby could ascertain, it was
something that had never happened before.

The island-punch--arva--was brought in at the conclusion of the
repast, and passed round in a shallow calabash.

Now my comrade, while seated in the Happar house, began to feel
more troubled than ever at leaving me; indeed, so sad did he feel
that he talked about going back to the valley, and wanted Jimmy
to escort him as far as the mountains.  But the sailor would not
listen to him, and, by way of diverting his thoughts, pressed him
to drink of the arva.  Knowing its narcotic nature, he refused;
but Jimmy said he would have something mixed with it, which would
convert it into an innocent beverage that would inspirit them for
the rest of their journey.  So at last he was induced to drink of
it, and its effects were just as the sailor had predicted; his
spirits rose at once, and all his gloomy thoughts left him.

The old rover now began to reveal his true character, though he
was hardly suspected at the time.  'If I get you off to a ship,'
said he, 'you will surely give a poor fellow something for saving
you.'  In short, before they left the house, he made Toby promise
that he would give him five Spanish dollars if he succeeded in
getting any part of his wages advanced from the vessel, aboard of
which they were going; Toby, moreover, engaging to reward him
still further, as soon as my deliverance was accomplished.

A little while after this they started again, accompanied by many
of the natives, and going up the valley, took a steep path near
its head, which led to Nukuheva.  Here the Happars paused and
watched them as they ascended the mountain, one group of
bandit-looking fellows, shaking their spears and casting
threatening glances at the poor Typee, whose heart as well as
heels seemed much the lighter when he came to look down upon
them.

On gaining the heights once more, their way led for a time along
several ridges covered with enormous ferns.  At last they entered
upon a wooded tract, and here they overtook a party of Nukuheva
natives, well armed, and carrying bundles of long poles.  Jimmy
seemed to know them all very well, and stopped for a while, and
had a talk about the 'Wee-Wees', as the people of Nukuheva call
the Monsieurs.

The party with the poles were King Mowanna's men, and by his
orders they had been gathering them in the ravines for his allies
the French.

Leaving these fellows to trudge on with their loads, Toby and his
companions now pushed forward again, as the sun was already low
in the west.  They came upon the valleys of Nukuheva on one side
of the bay, where the highlands slope off into the sea.  The
men-of-war were still lying in the harbour, and as Toby looked
down upon them, the strange events which had happened so
recently, seemed all a dream.

They soon descended towards the beach, and found themselves in
Jimmy's house before it was well dark.  Here he received another
welcome from his Nukuheva wives, and after some refreshments in
the shape of cocoanut milk and poee-poee, they entered a canoe
(the Typee of course going along) and paddled off to a whaleship
which was anchored near the shore.  This was the vessel in want
of men.  Our own had sailed some time before.  The captain
professed great pleasure at seeing Toby, but thought from his
exhausted appearance that he must be unfit for duty.  However, he
agreed to ship him, as well as his comrade, as soon as he should
arrive.  Toby begged hard for an armed boat, in which to go round
to Typee and rescue me, notwithstanding the promises of Jimmy.  
But this the captain would not hear of, and told him to have
patience, for the sailor would be faithful to his word.  When,
too, he demanded the five silver dollars for Jimmy, the captain
was unwilling to give them.  But Toby insisted upon it, as he now
began to think that Jimmy might be a mere mercenary, who would be
sure to prove faithless if not well paid.  Accordingly he not
only gave him the money, but took care to assure him, over and
over again, that as soon as he brought me aboard he would receive
a still larger sum.

Before sun-rise the next day, Jimmy and the Typee started in two
of the ship's boats, which were manned by tabooed natives.  Toby,
of course, was all eagerness to go along, but the sailor told him
that if he did, it would spoil all; so, hard as it was, he was
obliged to remain.

Towards evening he was on the watch, and descried the boats
turning the headland and entering the bay.  He strained his eyes,
and thought he saw me; but I was not there.  Descending from the
mast almost distracted, he grappled Jimmy as he struck the deck,
shouting in a voice that startled him, 'Where is Tommo?'  The old
fellow faltered, but soon recovering, did all he could to soothe
him, assuring him that it had proved to be impossible to get me
down to the shore that morning; assigning many plausible reasons,
and adding that early on the morrow he was going to visit the bay
again in a French boat, when, if he did not find me on the
beach--as this time he certainly expected to--he would march
right back into the valley, and carry me away at all hazards.  
He, however, again refused to allow Toby to accompany him.  Now,
situated as Toby was, his sole dependence for the present was
upon this Jimmy, and therefore he was fain to comfort himself as
well as he could with what the old sailor told him.  The next
morning, however, he had the satisfaction of seeing the French
boat start with Jimmy in it.  Tonight, then, I will see him,
thought Toby; but many a long day passed before he ever saw Tommo
again.  Hardly was the boat out of sight, when the captain came
forward and ordered the anchor weighed; he was going to sea.

Vain were all Toby's ravings--they were disregarded; and when he
came to himself, the sails were set, and the ship fast leaving
the land.

.  .  . 'Oh!'  said he to me at our meeting, 'what sleepless
nights were mine.  Often I started from my hammock, dreaming you
were before me, and upbraiding me for leaving you on the island.'

        .  .  .  .  .  .  .

There is little more to be related.  Toby left this vessel at New
Zealand, and after some further adventures, arrived home in less
than two years after leaving the Marquesas.  He always thought of
me as dead--and I had every reason to suppose that he too was no
more; but a strange meeting was in store for us, one which made
Toby's heart all the lighter.

NOTE.

The author was more than two years in the South Seas, after
escaping from the valley, as recounted in the last chapter.  Some
time after returning home the foregoing narrative was published,
though it was little thought at the time that this would be the
means of revealing the existance of Toby, who had long been given
up for lost.  But so it proved.

The story of his escape supplies a natural sequel to the
adventure, and as such it is now added to the volume.  It was
related to the author by Toby himself, not ten days since.

New York, July, 1846.





End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Typee: A Romance of the South Sea